North Carolina hospital to be sold in $280M deal

Community Health Systems, Inc. says it has reached a definitive agreement to sell one of its hospitals in North Carolina, and the company is hoping to seal the deal this time.

Duke Health has reached an agreement to purchase Lake Norman Regional Medical Center from Community Health Systems, Inc.

Duke Health says it has reached an agreement to buy Lake Norman Regional Medical Center from CHS, the for-profit system based in Franklin, Tenn. CHS says Duke Health will purchase the 123-bed hospital in a $280 million transaction.

Duke Health says it is still early in the process but is looking forward to adding Lake Norman to the system.

“We are committed to building healthy communities and expanding access to the trusted providers and care teams our patients and neighbors across the region rely on,” Duke Health said in a message on its website.

Duke Health calls it “an incredible opportunity to serve more communities within North Carolina.”

“We are excited to extend our missions into this wonderful North Carolina community, and we are confident that Duke Health and LNRMC will enjoy an exceptional partnership as we work together to support and enhance care for the Iredell County community.”

CHS says it is hoping to close the transaction in the first quarter of 2025, though regulators must sign off on the deal.

Federal regulators previously objected to CHS’ plans to sell the hospital and another facility, Davis Regional Medical Center, to Novant Health earlier this year. The Federal Trade Commission said that the Novant purchase would lead to higher prices and the potential for reduced services with less competition in the market.

After a legal battle, Novant Health said it was abandoning the deal when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District narrowly granted the FTC’s petition for an injunction, delaying the deal.

“We are steadfast in our belief that these facilities and their patients would have greatly benefited from joining Novant Health, but with the FTC’s continued roadblocks we do not see a way to finalize this transaction,” Novant Health said in June.

Now, CHS is looking to complete another deal to sell Lake Norman Regional, which serves a growing area near Charlotte.

Duke Health said it is “committed to keeping high quality care local.” The health system says it wants to support the medical center’s service to the community.

“Duke Health is looking forward to learning from the community and expanding access to specialty care, where needed,” the system said.

CHS said in August that it reached an agreement to sell Davis Regional Medical Center, the other facility it had planned to sell to Novant. Iredell Health System said in August that it plans to acquire Davis Regional Medical Center from CHS, and the deal was finalized in October. The facility is now known as Iredell Davis Behavioral Health.

Of the two facilities, Davis Regional seemingly faced a more precarious future, with some fearing that the hospital would close if the Novant deal didn’t materialize. Davis had formerly been an acute care hospital, but CHS converted it into a psychiatric facility.

Iredell says it is evaluating its plans for Davis Regional, but the system said it would keep the psychiatric facility open.

Iredell Health System intends to keep the psychiatric facility open and said plans to expand services at the site will be determined in the future.

CHS has been selling some of its facilities in recent years. The system operates 69 hospitals and 1,000 healthcare sites in 15 states.