Novant Health completed its $2.4 billion purchase of three South Carolina hospitals from Tenet Healthcare, less than three months after announcing the deal.
Tenet, a public company based in Dallas, sold three hospitals to the Winston-Salem-based not-for-profit: Hilton Head Hospital in Beaufort County, Coastal Carolina Hospital in Jasper County and East Cooper Medical Center in Charleston County. The transaction also includes 27 physician clinics in Charleston and Beaufort counties and an emergency department in Jasper County.
The three hospitals and related businesses had revenue of about $550 million and pretax income of $126 million in the year ended Sept. 30, according to the Healthcare Finance newsletter.
Novant has annual revenue of about $8 billion, not including the three South Carolina hospitals. It’s the second-largest N.C.-based hospital chain, behind Atrium Health, which has annual revenue of nearly $30 billion.
“Novant Health’s long-term vision is to transform the health and wellness of these communities through expanded specialty services and clinical expertise,” CEO Carl Armato said in a release. “We are energized and united behind our cause to create a healthier future together by building connections with patients and clinicians in coastal South Carolina.”
Earlier this month, Federal Trade Commission regulators said they are suing to block Novant’s plans to buy two hospitals in Iredell County in North Carolina, citing antitrust concerns. Community Health Systems, a for-profit system based in Tennessee, has agreed to sell Lake Norman Regional Medical Center and Davis Regional Medical Center for $320 million, a much smaller transaction than in South Carolina. Novant says it will contest the FTC lawsuit.
At the end of 2022, Novant had 16 inpatient medical centers and about 36,000 employees in the Carolinas. Its 706 physicians’ clinics employed 1,922 doctors. The institution was formed through the 1997 merger of Forsyth Memorial Hospital of Winston-Salem and Presbyterian Hospital of Charlotte.
In 2021, Novant bought New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, while ending its partnership with the UVA Health System in northern Virginia.