NORTH VALLEY: Enloe And Chico Hospitals Merge

      Chico Community Hospital and Enloe Hospital consolidated their operations last week under the name Enloe Medical Center. Paracelsus Health Care Corp., Chico Community's parent company, signed over the facility to Enloe officials last Tuesday. Philip Wolfe, president and CEO of nonprofit Enloe Health System, said the purchase means Enloe can become "a medical center with a complete range of systems" that will "help ensure that North Valley residents have access to high- quality, locally controlled health care." He added that the merger will lead to the construction of new facilities, including a cancer center, a women's health center and an expansion of Chico Community's rehabilitation and psychiatric units. He commented that the "complementary nature of the two hospitals also should please insurance companies who will seek managed care contracts with Enloe." The Chico Enterprise-Record reports that Wolfe declined to state the price paid for the sale of Chico Community. The new medical center now "comprises 391 acute-care beds" and 2,200 employees (Mitchel, 7/2).