VALUE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH: CLEARS WAY FOR COLUMBIA/HCA DEAL

      Columbia Healthcare Corp. is set to acquire Connecticut-
 based Value Behavioral Health Inc. after Value Health "sold its
 50% interest" in Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership,
 Boston Globe reports.  FHC Options, which already owned 50% of
 the partnership, bought Value Health's portion for an undisclosed
 amount.  The deal, effective yesterday, "comes after a June 27
 injunction blocked the $1.3 billion sale of Value Health Inc. --
 the parent company of Value Behavioral Health -- to Nashville-
 based Columbia" (see AHL 6/19).  
      STOP THE SALE!
      The injunction, ordered on grounds that the sale would
 create a conflict of interest under the state's Medicaid
 contract, was issued after FHC Options filed suit to stop the
 sale.  According to Globe, Options claimed the merger "would
 violate the partnership's managed care contract, which prohibited
 FHC Options and Value Health from having a financial interest in
 any of the hospitals that take Medicaid mental health patients"
 (Merritt, 7/16).  Columbia already owns MetroWest Medical Center
 and is in the process of purchasing Neponset Valley Health
 Systems.  The transaction is expected to close later this month,
 pending the resolution of regulatory matters concerning the State
 of California Department of Corporations (Value Health release,
 7/16).