Tower Health paid $418M for 5 area hospitals
FRANKLIN, TENN. » Tower Health’s purchase of five area hospitals cost the Berks County-based health system approximately $418 million.
According to information filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Community Health Systems Inc., the former owner of the hospitals, the purchase price was paid in cash at the deal’s closing on Sept. 29.
The acquisition, announced in May, became official on Oct. 1. Hospitals included in the transaction were Brandywine Hospital in Caln Township (169 licensed beds), Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia (148 licensed beds), Jennersville Hospital in Penn Township in southern Chester County (63 licensed beds), Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville (151 licensed beds) and Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Pottstown (232 licensed beds).
Terms of the sale were not previously announced publicly. Individual sales prices for each hospital were not listed in the SEC documents. In a statement Friday, Tower Health said, “the terms of the agreement are confidential and Tower Health is not able to disclose the purchase price.”
The major expansion for Tower Health takes it beyond the borders of Berks County into southeastern Pennsylvania. Tower Health, which had been Reading Health System and operated Reading Hospital in West Reading, implemented the new name upon completion of the acquisition. All of the hospitals are now part of Tower Health and two had name changes. Pottstown Memorial Medical Center is now known as Pottstown Hospital and Jennersville Regional Hospital is now known as Jennersville Hospital.
Tower Health has 11,000 em-
ployees, offering healthcare to an estimated 2.5 million people.
In August, the Berks County Industrial Development Authority approved the health system’s application for a tax-exempt revenue
bond issue — not to exceed $650 million.
Approval was granted following a public hearing, and according to Thomas C. McKeon, executive director of the Berks County Industrial Development Authority, the bond issue was a record amount for the agency.
In addition to the acquisition of the five hospitals, the bond was also expected to be used to pay for the design, construction, installation and furnishing of the Reading HealthPlex for Advanced Surgical and Patient Care, a surgical and inpatient tower in West Reading.