After legal battle, Indiana health system reaches deal to acquire Kentucky hospital
The Deaconess Health System has an agreement to acquire Jennie Stuart Health. A local group had raised objections but reached a settlement, clearing the way for the deal’s conclusion.
Despite some local objections and a legal battle, the Deaconess Health System has secured a definitive agreement to acquire Jennie Stuart Health.
Deaconess Health System has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Jennie Stuart Health, a hospital in Kentucky.
Deaconess, a system based in Evansville, Indiana, will be adding Jennie Stuart Health, a 194-bed hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The organizations announced the agreement last week and hope to close the deal by Aug. 1.
Deaconess has pledged to maintain all of Jennie Stuart’s services and also said the system could provide more access to specialty care. The system also has pledged to upgrade the hospital’s technology.
When Jennie Stuart first announced the plans to join Deaconess in September, some local residents in the Hopkinsville area objected to the deal. An opposition group, Save Jennie Stuart, filed a lawsuit against the hospital’s board of directors.
Save Jennie Stuart announced last week that it had reached a settlement, paving the way for Deaconess to complete the acquisition. The suit has been dismissed.
In a press release, Save Jennie Stuart said the group’s efforts made a difference. “Deaconess did make an offer of a deal on more favorable terms to the community,” the group said.
Under the agreement, Deaconess has pledged to spend at least $95 million on improvements at Jennie Stuart. Deaconess also plans to finance the hospital’s transition to the health system’s electronic health records system. Deaconess estimated that if Jennie Stuart had to buy a new electronic records system on its own, the cost would be $40 million to $60 million.
Eric Lee, president and CEO of Jennie Stuart, said joining Deaconess will help ensure the hospital has a “brighter future ahead.”
“This milestone will ensure Jennie Stuart can deliver even better health care for our communities for our next 100 years,” Lee said in a statement.
“We are strengthening what makes Jennie Stuart special – we will continue to provide compassionate and high-quality care to all our patients, and I deeply thank our caregivers for remaining dedicated to caring for our patients every single day,” Lee added.
Shawn McCoy, CEO of Deaconess Health System, said he looked forward to improving patient care at Jennie Stuart.
“Through this process, I’ve had the chance to get to know many Jennie Stuart team members and have seen firsthand their dedication to providing quality care every day,” McCoy said in a statement. “With greater capital investment and the adoption of best-in-class technology, this highly qualified team can better serve patients and improve the standard of care locally for many years to come.”
Deaconess said Jennie Stuart’s management team will remain in place and will have control over local operations and financial decisions.
Dan Kemp, a member of Save Jennie Stuart, told the Hoptown Chronicle that Deaconess agreed to invest $5 million more in the Jennie Stuart Foundation, building on an initial pledge of $5 million to the foundation. Kemp also told the newspaper that the group didn’t want to risk jeopardizing a deal to preserve the hospital.
Still, Save Jennie Stuart lamented the loss of independent control of the hospital.
“Although the members of SJS continue to oppose the takeover and mourn the loss of Jennie Stuart’s assets to an Evansville-based health care conglomerate, they hope the takeover will result in better medical care for the community and a continuation of the charitable contributions made by Jennie Stuart to the community over the years,” the group said in its news release.
Deaconess has grown in recent years. The health system operates 20 hospitals and more than 140 other healthcare locations in southwestern Indiana, southeastern Illinois and western Kentucky.
Last year, Deaconess completed the acquisition of Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, a 128-bed facility in Jasper, Indiana.
The system struck a deal with Quorum Health to acquire four hospitals in Illinois in 2022.
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