BUSINESS BRIEFS: BAYER, COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRIC, WALGREEN
BAYER CORP., the U.S. unit of Germany-based BAYER AG,This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
announced that it has agreed to purchase "certain assets" of
Swedish-U.S. pharmaceuticals manufacturer PHARMACIA & UPJOHN AB's
biological business for an undisclosed amount (WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 1/7)........ Nashville, TN-based BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE
CORP. purchased 24 hospitals from Las Vegas-based COMMUNITY
PSYCHIATRIC CENTER for $86 million. Community Psychiatric
officials said that they decided to sell "all of its psychiatric
facilities because some insurance companies have dropped their
reimbursement rates for psychiatric services and begun limiting
the types of services covered" (Barlas, THE BUSINESS JOURNAL
SERVING SAN JOSE AND THE SILICON VALLEY, 1/6)........ INTEGRATED
HEALTH CONCEPTS (IHC), the pharmacy benefits manager of Longs
Drug Stores, has been awarded a three-year contract to manage the
Alameda County Behavioral Health Pharmacy Program in California.
IHC will manage the program through various clinics and support
centers and will serve 4,000 to 5,000 county residents who are
chronically mentally ill, medically indigent adults and children
(IHC release, 1/6)........ Burlington, Ontario-based LAIDLAW INC.
agreed to purchase AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE INC., an emergency-
transportation company in Aurora, CO, for $1.12 billion. Laidlaw
said that it plans to merge the unit with MedTrans, its existing
ambulance division in San Diego. The deal still needs
shareholder approval (De Santis, WALL STREET JOURNAL,
1/7)........ WALGREEN CO. reported Monday that its first-quarter
results jumped 18% to $75 million for the quarter ended November
30. Revenues for the Deerfield, IL-based company grew 13.4% to
$3.1 billion from year-earlier revenues of $2.7 billion
(Baltimore SUN, 1/7)........ WELLCARE OF NEW YORK, INC., the HMO
subsidiary of THE WELLCARE MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC., has received
approval from the New York State Department of Health to expand
its service area into Westchester County effective January 1
(Wellcare release, 1/6).