CHW: May Be Courting Gilroy Facility
Catholic Healthcare West is in talks with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. to buy its Gilroy-based South Valley Hospital. Although CHW posted first-quarter losses of nearly $24 million and South Valley last year reported operating losses of $6.8 million, Modern Healthcare reports that "the opportunity to string its market share south to Gilroy appears to be too enticing" for CHW to pass up. CHW already owns O'Conner Hospital in San Jose and Saint Louise Hospital in Morgan Hill, between San Jose and Gilroy. Some hospital experts believe it "makes no sense to add capacity in the overcrowded San Jose market" but others speculate that CHW is attracted to South Valley because it recently boosted its market share in San Jose with the acquisition of Alexian Brothers Hospital. A CHW spokesperson confirmed that his company was in talks with South Valley but would not elaborate further. A South Valley spokesperson "stressed" that the talks are preliminary (Rauber, 4/19 issue).
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