PALOMAR POMERADO HEALTH: “Shelves” ScrippsHealth Offer
Palomar Pomerado Health System, which has been courted by ScrippsHealth since 1996, has "shelved indefinitely" any negotiations with the firm, in light of two new offers. Modern Healthcare reports that San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare and Roseville-based Adventist Health have both contacted Palomar to discuss potential deals, knocking ScrippsHealth out of the picture. Sharp "tendered a nine-page affiliation proposal on July 3" that would have put Sharp in charge of Palomar's two hospitals in Poway and Escondido in exchange for an upfront payment of $20 million which would be used to set up a new company to manage the hospitals. "The Sharp offer had enough to get our board's attention, and the community's response ... was to slow this whole process down," said Palomar spokesperson David Owen. According to Sharp, Palomar would save an estimated $40 million over the life of the deal and would get "more autonomy in the day-to-day operations of the hospitals." Adventist Health contacted Palomar in late July, but has not made a specific proposal as of yet. Owen noted that the proposed deal between ScrippsHealth and Palomar had been held up as "the composition of [Palomar's] publicly elected board ... changed." ScrippsHealth has "backed off" on pushing Palomar for a final decision on the deal, Modern Healthcare reports. ScrippsHealth spokesperson Robin Liszewski said, "We understand their situation and that they remain committed as stewards of the public's resources" (Shinkman, 8/17).
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.