Quorum Health to retain ownership of local hospital
SFC holds 40-year lease on Forrest City Medical Center
Forrest City Medical Center will continue to operate under the management of Quorum Health after the company recently decided not to pursue an offer from a private investor to purchase the local facility.
St. Francis County holds the 40-year lease on the hospital, which was originally negotiated with Community Health Systems in 2006. In 2018, CHS sold the lease to Quorum Health.
“They are under contract to maintain a hospital in Forrest City until 2046,” said St. Francis County Judge Gary Hughes.
“Several years ago, Community Health Systems spun off 38 of their hospitals into another corporation, and one of these was Forrest City Medical Center. Quorum Health is now the official lessee of the hospital,” said Hughes. “Quorum Health, along with Community Health Systems, are under obligation for our lease until 2046.”
According to Hughes, Quorum Health was approached several months ago by a private investor interested in purchasing its lease of the local hospital.
“I was notified in May regarding this offer. I contacted our attorney, Fletcher Long, and we agreed it would be beneficial to contact attorney Bill Marshall who assisted us with the original acquisition and lease in 2006,” said Hughes. “During the past month, we have been busy discussing and evaluating this offer. However, on June 14, we were notified by Quorum Health that they had decided not to pursue this offer from this buyer at this time.
“Quorum Health has assured us there is no reason for alarm and they are committed to continuing to operate the hospital in Forrest City,” continued Hughes. “I’m not concerned about the hospital closing or anything bad happening. I have a guarantee from Community Health Systems and Quorum Health to operate here until 2046.”
The St. Francis County Quorum Court would have the final say on a hospital lease purchase, according to Hughes.
“If Quorum Health is approached in the future, any offer to purchase their lease will be presented to the Quorum Court for its approval,” said the county judge.
“They are free to sell the lease for the hospital if they so choose, and that is what happened over the past month,” Hughes said of the company. “They received an offer to buy the hospital and that didn’t work out. They have decided not to pursue a buyer at this time.”
In the original agreement, the company paid $7.2 million to the county for the hospital lease.
Hughes said this money is in a special account that has been used once.
“We borrowed a little bit of this money to settle a lawsuit against the jail for $900,000 but that was the first time we ever touched that money,” said Hughes. “That loan is being paid back with interest the money earns every year and it should get back to the $7.2 million in a just a couple more years.
“Our hospital has good backing. We feel very good about our hospital still being supported by Community Health Systems and Quorum Health and that they will continue to move our hospital forward. We believe they will increase the services offered to citizens of our communities and there is no reason for alarm,” said Hughes.
“We are very pleased with the way Quorum Health handled this situation. They have been very up front in keeping us informed and aware of the status of this offer. We are very confident that Quorum Health is still committed to improving the services offered by Forrest City Medical Center,” said Hughes. “Our hospital is not going anywhere. They were considering selling to someone else, but that is not going to happen now.”