A committee of Jennie Stuart Health board members will meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss aspects of the local hospital’s possible acquisition by Evansville, Indiana-based Deaconess, and a meeting of the full board will follow on Wednesday to discuss communications. But the board will not vote on the proposal until later in the month, board chair Leslie Carroll told Hoptown Chronicle.
Previously, at an Oct. 30 community meeting, Carroll said the board planned to vote on the Deaconess acquisition at its Dec. 2 meeting. However, the vote has been delayed and will likely occur before the end of the month, she confirmed on Monday.
“We are still targeting this month but we don’t have a date yet,” Carroll said.
When they meet Tuesday, the Jennie Stuart board committee will hear updates on aspects of the deal that are still being worked through by both sides, she said.
Carroll did not specify which aspects of the acquisition are still being negotiated.
If the proposal goes through, Deaconess would acquire Jennie Stuart Medical Center through a so-called membership substitution.
- RELATED: Jennie Stuart makes its case for Deaconess deal in open meeting with residents who mostly oppose it
Nonprofit hospital systems such as Deaconess and Jennie Stuart increasingly are using a membership substitution model in which the seller (Jennie Stuart) transfers its ownership into the larger system (Deaconess), which then becomes the new member. In this type of transaction, the larger hospital does not pay to purchase the smaller hospital — and that has been one of the main points of contention from local community members who oppose the Deaconess acquisition.
Led by a group called Save Jennie Stuart, those critical of the acquisition have said Hopkinsville should not give up control of a crucial community asset. They want to know specifics about the legal agreement, which likely would not be made public until after the deal is signed.
Supporters of the acquisition say it is a strategic move needed for the long-term viability of Jennie Stuart Medical Center, its physician practices and its satellite facilities. They have argued that Deaconess will provide capital to pay for essential upgrades in technology, including an industry leading Epic-brand electronic health record (EHR) system.
Major problems with Jennie Stuart’s health records and billing system was a key factor in the hospital board’s decision to pursue a strategic partner and eventually to seek a new owner.
Save Jennie Stuart representatives and others have pushed the hospital board to instead lean on the hospital’s financial resources, including estimated cash reserves in excess of $100 million, to secure EHR improvements and to possibly look at a partnership with Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Theresa Nichol, a former hospital board chair who now heads up Save Jennie Stuart, said Monday that her organization has asked to meet with the hospital board, but the request has not been granted. Among several issues, they want to know if Jennie Stuart has secured a valuation of the assets, including facilities, real estate and equipment.
Read all of Hoptown Chronicle’s coverage of Jennie Stuart here.
This story was updated to clarify that a Jennie Stuart board committee, not the full board, is meeting Tuesday. The full board has a meeting scheduled on Wednesday.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
