Catholic Medical Center is exploring a partnership with HCA Healthcare, which would acquire the nonprofit hospital. The two parties have signed a nonbonding letter of intent, CMC announced Wednesday, Sept. 27.
“We have been on a journey to identify a partner that will, first and foremost, support our mission of health, healing and hope, as well as a partner who will embrace who we are as a Catholic hospital,” said Alex Walker, CMC’s president and CEO, in a statement. “With HCA Healthcare, we believe we have found that partner.”
Last year, CMC’s parent company, GraniteOne Health, withdrew plans to partner with Dartmouth Health after the proposal met with resistance from the state attorney general’s office. The Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice cited concerns about decreased competition.
HCA Healthcare, which acquired Frisbie Memorial Hospital in 2020, also owns Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Parkland Medical Center in Derry. The publicly traded company (NYSE: HCA) operates 186 hospitals in 21 states and the United Kingdom, according to its website.
“In addition to embracing our Catholic mission, HCA Healthcare also aligns with our core values and is committed to health care excellence, community service, and investing in our people and facilities,” Walker said in a press release.
CMC cited an HCA Catholic hospital in Florida as a precedent and that the partnership would include the creation of a nonprofit foundation “to carry on CMC’s commitment to serve the needs of our community for generations to come.”
“We have seen this successful model with HCA Florida Mercy Hospital, an HCA Healthcare Catholic hospital in the Archdiocese of Miami, and are confident in HCA Healthcare’s commitment to ensure CMC will continue to operate as a Catholic hospital in accordance with the (Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services),” said Timothy Riley, chair of CMC’s board of trustees.
The release also included a statement from Bishop Peter Libasci.
“Unwavering adherence to Catholic moral and ethical principles, and actual practice, in the delivery of health care is a foremost priority for me,” Libasci said. “The integrity of Catholic identity as both Catholic Medical Center and HCA Healthcare follow the process of due diligence in this proposed partnership has been accepted as paramount.”
