CMH Board of Trustees recommends RegionalCare Hospital partners to commissioners

      WILMINGTON, OHIO – After an executive session during its regular board meeting Wednesday, March 31, 2010, the CMH Board of Trustees expressed “strong preference” that for profit RegionalCare Hospital Partners of Nashville be selected to acquire the assets of Clinton Memorial Hospital, which also does business as CMH Regional Health System (CMH).

      However, the unanimously-approved board resolution acknowledges that all responses to the request for proposal (RFP) will remain open for the 120-day period specified in the RFP and that the Board of Clinton County Commissioners (who attended the meeting in the CMH Conference Center) may select any of the bidders it deems appropriate.

      Capella Healthcare, Kettering Health Network/Health Management Associates, LifePoint Hospitals/The Christ Hospital, and TriHealth are the other four healthcare organizations or partnerships that responded to the RFP.

      Capella Healthcare and LifePoint Hospitals are for profit hospitals based near Nashville. LifePoint’s partner in the bid proposal, The Christ Hospital, is a not for profit Cincinnati hospital. Kettering Health Network is a not for profit Dayton-based health system and Health Management Associates is a for profit healthcare organization based in Naples, Fla. TriHealth is a not for profit healthcare system based in Cincinnati.

      CMH Board of Trustee chairman Bob Wagenseller will formally present the board’s recommendation on Monday, April 5, to the commissioners.

      Since CMH is a county hospital and healthcare organization, the commissioners must make the ultimate decision on the buyer. Commissioners did not indicate when they will make a decision, but the original bids are only good through June 24. If a decision is not made by then, the process will have to be restarted.

      According to CMH interim president and chief executive officer Dr. Michael Choo, it should take at least another 60-90 days to consummate the deal once a letter of intent agreement is signed by the buyer and the county commissioners.

        “It could be this summer or early fall before we are formally under new ownership,” Dr. Choo says. “We are getting closer to the end of this very historic process and remain firm in the belief that this is going to be in the best interest of CMH physicians, employees and all the patients we serve throughout southwestern Ohio.”

      Wagenseller echoed those sentiments and expressed thanks to all those who have been involved in this process which goes back nearly two years and began in earnest during late 2008.

      “We have involved our physicians, employees, public officials, including the commissioners, and key community leaders from day 1,” Wagenseller says. “After thorough analysis and vetting by CMH’s executive staff, managers and board members, we are confident that we have provided the commissioners the best choice to serve our communities.”

      CMH board’s recommendation in December of 2009 to sell CMH’s assets through a competitive bidding process had to be acted on by the commissioners as the ultimate decision-making authority.

      This past January, the commissioners formally accepted the CMH Board of Trustee’s recommendation to proceed with the potential sale and approved the request for proposal (RFP) proposed by CMH.