Community Health Systems Says Its Selling Off Even More Hospitals

[TexasTowelie]

Community Health Systems is in the process of unloading 30 hospitals and discussed plans Wednesday for another round of sell-offs. The announcement comes as the Franklin-based company is trying to climb out from under a mountain of debt.

Downsizing wasn't the plan for CHS, which in 2013 had grown even larger than industry giant HCA. But on a quarterly earnings call, CEO Wayne Smith told analysts that selling the hospitals is meant to shed facilities that haven't been very profitable.

"We're excited about the opportunity," he said. "We're not that far off from turning the corner on all this."

But for now, earnings are down and projections were lowered even further as hospitals are seeing fewer patients.

Read more: http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/community-health-systems-says-it-s-selling-even-more-hospitals

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Oh, great.

My cousin is an RN, so when she and her husband moved to Tennessee, it was easier for her to find a job - she specializes in labor and delivery - than her husband, who's a chef. So they decided he'd be the one to stay home with their little girl

[southerncrone]

3. Your cousin should do ok here if she is in the Nashville are, especially.

There are numerous jobs for RNs here. Nashville is growing at a phenomenal rate (80 people per DAY move here).

[Rhiannon12866]

4. No, she lives in Eastern Tennessee

Moved there from Western NC. It's a very pretty area, but I'm not sure what the economy is like there.

[southerncrone]

5. Should still do ok in Knoxville or Chattanooga, I'm not familiar enough w/the Tri-cities area

to comment. But, nursing positions seem to be one of the only occupations that are in constant demand. Unless, there have been so many graduate recently that the job market is now saturated w/them. I do know that there was a severe shortage a decade or so ago & many pursued those degrees because the pay was good, too.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. She's in Jefferson County

Not near a major population area, so I couldn't help wondering if this area would be affected. Though I agree that nursing is a job that's always in demand, but not if local hospitals are closing.

[southerncrone]

7. Jefferson City is close enough to Knoxville to commute.

About 30 miles or a 40 min drive. Morristown is also close enough to commute & is a fairly large town.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Thanks! Geography is not my strong suit, LOL

It's my impression that it was fairly rural. I did spend time with her in NC, and she also commuted from the country to a major hospital in the city. It's really lovely country around there!

[Docreed2003]

2. I'll be interested to see which hospitals they sell off

I can say, CHS bought up a bunch of struggling hospitals and did little in the way of turning them around. Ironically, some of these hospitals are relatively new, like less than ten years old, but they were poorly thought out. For example, one CHS hospital is Baptist in Knoxville. The current hospital was built when the Baptist East Tn hospital system was still a thing in 2006. They built a huge new hospital in an area of town that was expanding, but there was already an established hospital in that area. The new Baptist never took off and ultimately ended up resulting in the closure of the downtown Baptist flagship and the demise of the Baptist system. When CHS took over, they did little to nothing to turn around the hospital and every time I pass by there, the parking lot is basically empty.

My impression is that CHS wanted to compete with HCA without the planning or business sense.