Mayo Clinic Jacksonville makes move to Georgia

Mayo Clinic Jacksonville (Fla.) will establish its first presence in Georgia with a deal to acquire Satilla Regional Medical Center, Waycross. The agreement includes no cash upfront, and Mayo Clinic will assume Satilla’s $51 million in cash reserves for capital expenditures, according to a report from Georgia’s attorney general’s office. Mayo Clinic will also take a majority of seats on Satilla’s board of directors. Satilla Health Services, which is principally 187-bed Satilla Regional Medical Center, will be renamed Mayo Clinic Health System in Waycross. Dr. Kenneth Calamia, a Mayo Clinic physician who will serve as CEO at Waycross, said, “physician recruitment is certainly one of the things we’ll be able to improve with the integration.” Robert Trimm, Satilla’s current president and CEO, will become chief administrative officer. Trimm said the merger allows Satilla to draw on Mayo Clinic’s knowledge amid a difficult healthcare environment, noting that the organization’s “culture and the commitments and the principles and the values fit together very well.” Satilla began exploring the idea of a takeover in 2009 after receiving an unsolicited bid from an undisclosed suitor, according to the attorney general’s report. An Ernst & Young report obtained by Mayo found that the takeover will yield $52.5 million to $63.8 million in incremental operational synergies over a five-year period, according to the attorney general’s report.