Quorum prepares to hand off Arkansas hospital

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on November 6, 2009 at 9:56 am

Sparks Hospital in Fort Smith, Ark., has agreed to sell itself to Health Management Associates for about $138 million, which means the two Quorum Health Resources who have been managing the 492-bed facility will soon be on their way back to the CHS home office in Brentwood.

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Tags: acquisitions, Arkansas, Community Health Systems Inc., Health Management Associates Inc., hospital management, management consulting, Quorum Health Resources Inc., Sparks Hospital  

Hospitals’ not-so-bad-anymore debt

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on April 15, 2009 at 12:20 am

HCA’s earnings preview yesterday included the nugget that its provision for doubtful accounts was lower that had been expected. That lifted a number of hospital operators’ stocks big time and, says one analyst, may signal the bottom for their valuations.

If other operators also report lower-than-expected bad-debt ratios, then “these depressed share prices and multiples won’t last for long,” CRT Capital Group’s Sheryl Skolnick told Dow Jones. “Bad debt is one of the key concerns keeping a lid on hospital price performance.” Health Management Associations Inc. (HMA, $3.28, +$0.21, +6.84%), Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (LPNT, $22.81, +$1.54, +7.24%) and Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH, $18.54, +$2.33, +14.37%) all rose.

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Tags: bad debt, Community Health Systems Inc., CRT Capital Group, HCA Inc., Health Management Associates Inc., hospital management, LifePoint Hospitals Inc., Sheryl Skolnick, stock valuation