January 11, 2008

Empire Health Services (EHS) announced today that they have filed the Certificate of Need (CoN) and Conversion Applications with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Washington State Office of the Attorney General (AG) were made, initiating the regulatory oversight process—a process which is anticipated to last several months.

October 10, 2007

Empire Health Services (EHS) announced today it has signed an asset purchase agreement (APA) with a subsidiary of Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS).

The agreement provides for the buyer to purchase the assets of Deaconess and Valley Medical Centers as well as Valley Outpatient Surgery Center. Although the agreement does not finalize the sale, it is an important step forward in ensuring long-term viability and health care choices for our community.

This is a great day for the region, and an important step toward ensuring our hospitals’ viability and health care choices for the people we serve.

Next Steps

Over the next several weeks a number of important activities will continue:

• CHS will file a letter of intent to file with the Attorney General’s office as soon as it is practical. At that point, the AG’s office will begin its review process
• EHS/CHS will do whatever they can to help ensure an expeditious review
• The Attorney General’s office will lead the review and the timeline

The Board has been working on how to best solidify Empire Health Services' (EHS) long-term future for more than a year and has studied many options and potential partners. During the process it became clear that identifying a strategic partner would ensure access to capital and a true investment in our community. The EHS Board developed criteria for the search that includes identifying partners that would share our culture of high quality care, make a substantial investment in Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center, support our excellent staff and physicians and continue our tradition of community service and collaboration.

 

On June 14, 2007 Empire Health Services (EHS) signed a non-binding letter of intent that would provide for the transition of ownership of EHS' assets to a subsidiary of Community Health Systems, Inc. (CHS) of Franklin, Tennessee. The letter of intent expresses both parties’ intent to pursue a purchase, but is not a final agreement of sale.

Next Steps

Over the next several weeks, EHS and CHS will be conducting the next level of due diligence and will work toward a definitive agreement. The next steps would include:

• A definitive agreement detailing the terms of the transaction would be prepared and negotiated.
• If the parties come to an agreement on the terms of the transaction and enter into the definitive agreement, review and approval by the Washington State Department of Health and the Washington State Office of the Attorney General would be required.

 Contact Us

If you have additional questions or concerns that were not answered, please send an email to ehsboard@empirehealth.org or click on the “contact us” navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen to send us your questions directly. A member of the EHS Board of Directors will receive your question and we will respond promptly.