Finishing a hospital merger in the carnage from Hurricane Helene

Even in the easiest transactions, hospital mergers require tackling complicated issues in merging organizations, staff, and technology.

However, AdventHealth faced a whole different set of challenges in completing its acquisition of St. Luke's Hospital, a critical access hospital in Columbus, North Carolina. They were slated to complete the transaction Oct. 1, just days after the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused unprecedented damage in western North Carolina.

Communities suffered heavy flooding and scores of roads were flooded, damaged or blocked by debris.

Mike Thompson, president and CEO of AdventHealth’s Southeast region, says the system weighed the possibility of postponing the merger amidst the chaos. In addition to power outages and impassable roads, AdventHealth assumes financial responsibility of the hospital with the completion of the deal.

“What would it mean to delay? Can we delay? What's the best thing to do for the community? We came to the conclusion it was probably better, even though not optimal, to go ahead and do the transition,” Thompson says.

Thompson says AdventHealth wanted to complete the acquisition, and also offer its resources to help the hospital and the community amidst the devastation.

Bill Miller, the former chairman of the board of directors of St. Luke’s Hospital, says he’s grateful AdventHealth didn’t want to delay the completion of the deal. The small hospital needed the assistance from a large health system in getting through the crisis.

“From our community's point of view, we're just so grateful for Advent, for the decision they made to go forward,” Miller says. “Because that helped our community immensely. The resources, the expertise, everything they were able to get on the ground quickly and help us was a decision that they didn't have to make, and they didn't have to go that way.”

“But I think it just re-energized our board and community's belief that we had aligned with the right partner, because they were more concerned about our community and our people and our situation than the bottom line,” Miller says.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive®, Thompson and Miller share the harrowing days of completing the merger and getting to work in helping the western North Carolina community.

(See part of our conversation in this video. The story continues below.)

Closing the deal

The small hospital, now known as AdventHealth Polk, didn’t suffer any damage in the flooding and other carnage created by Helene.

But the hospital, and all of Polk County, were without power. Miller says many employees suffered property damage.

“We obviously had lots of teammates who had home damage and problems getting in and out of driveways and getting around,” Miller says.

Initially, AdventHealth planned to send a team of 50 staff to complete the acquisition of the hospital. But given the power outages and the damaged and flooded roads, Thompson says they realized they couldn’t send a team that large right away. Hotels were also largely booked, as they were packed with residents who suffered home damage or losses and emergency responders needed places to stay.

Eventually, Thompson says a handful of AdventHealth leaders came to western North Carolina to complete the acquisition.

Miller says he lacked power and cell phone service, so he briefly rented a hotel room in Charlotte so he could communicate with Thompson and other AdventHealth leaders.

Returning to Columbus, Miller says, “I was driving all over everywhere to get people to sign things.”

“So it was a unique time, but the big picture decision that Advent made to go forward to help our community in our place, that was key for us,” he adds.

AdventHealth planned to utilize satellite phones to aid with communication, given the lack of power and cellular service, Thompson says.

Unfortunately, Thompson says those plans were derailed. The satellite phones needed a software update, which couldn’t be accessed due to the absence of cellular service.

“Ironically enough, our disaster planning, the plan was that those could get updated from a cell signal,” Thompson says. “So think about how that works, right? You’ve got a satellite phone because you don't have a cell signal, but update the satellite phone through a cell data link.”

Thompson says that’s one lesson that was learned through dealing with the experience.

Eventually, hospital officials secured a Starlink connection to allow communication. Thompson says they also found pockets of cell phone service.

Eventually, more communication took place in person as AdventHealth’s team was on the ground.

Aiding the recovery

With the transaction finalized, AdventHealth aided the hospital in getting through the crisis.

AdventHealth operates another hospital in western North Carolina, AdventHealth Hendersonville, so the system had some resources in the area. The system also was able to move supplies from its hospitals in Georgia, where AdventHealth had expected a greater hit from Helene.

“We had some challenges for the first few days, of stability of our documentation systems, and things that are so critical for the ongoing operations of the hospital, to facilities management expertise that was coming from all over the country, and things like making sure that your water is clean, and making sure that all of your systems are operating as expected so there's no adverse impact,” Thompson says.

Some employees struggled to get into the hospital due to closed roads. Employees walked miles to get to the hospital.

AdventHealthhelped some staff get into the hospital.

“They had a team of people come that started going out to employees' houses and cutting trees out of driveways, so they could get out to get to work,” Miller says.

Some staffers stayed at the hospital for days without leaving the facility. AdventHealth leaders also stayed at the hospital, he adds.

“We had a good many people just spend the night at the hospital and stay there for days on end,” Miller says.

Thompson says AdventHealth team members sought to keep the human cost of the storm in mind and were mindful of the emotional health of the hospital employees as they made the transition.

As Thompson says, “Our first questions were, how are you? How is your family? How is your house? What are the living conditions?”

Communities in western North Carolina are still working to recover from the damage unleashed by Helene. Students weren’t able to attend school for weeks. Thompson and Miller both say the mental health needs for the region will likely increase in the coming months, and they both agreed that’s going to be an area of concern in the long run.

“It's a slow-go recovery, but there's a lot of forces on the ground, including AdventHealth, that are helping get everybody back on their feet,” Miller says.

Thompson says completing the acquisition of the hospital in the wake of Helene was hardly ideal, but hospital staff and AdventHealth came together in a trying situation.

“It was a commonality that just galvanized everybody quicker than any other transition plan probably could have,” Thompson says. “And if you've ever been in those kinds of situations, what you quickly realize is that the true personal nature and the heart of leaders shows up really quickly, and so people are able to see what you're about in a different way.”

Miller says the hospital staff witnessed the commitment of AdventHealth in difficult circumstances.

“We were able to see that, hey, these are people that care about people, and care about communities and us,” Miller says. “And they're in there, side by side with us, staying here 24/7, making sure this place is up and going, and in our community and patients are served, so it's right in there, side by side, getting the job done.”

And he adds, “I think it bonded them together in a way that may have taken us months to do without this type of event.”