Tenet Healthcare Corporation announced Friday morning that the acquisition of the 209-bed Emanuel Medical Center has been completed and Susan Micheletti has been appointed as the hospital’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Friday’s announcement comes nearly a year and a half after the sale of EMC to Tenet was first announced on Feb. 21, 2013. In May 2013, documents filed with the State Attorney General’s Office showed Tenet purchasing EMC for $131 million — the price when the sale was finally approved in January 2014 and when the sale was completed Friday.
“We are beginning a new chapter in EMC’s 97-year history, under new ownership and with a new leadership team,” said Jeffrey Koury, CEO, Tenet’s Western Region. “We believe this is the right time and the right team to take the hospital forward in this challenging healthcare environment while preserving EMC’s historic mission for many more years to come.”
Despite the new chapter, newly named EMC CEO Susan Micheletti doesn’t expect the hospital to change too much, only to continue to grow.
“I don’t think there will be a lot of change,” said Micheletti. “I think there’s a really healthy culture here.”
As part of the purchase agreement, Tenet must continue to offer the same services as EMC for at least the next 10 years, according to Koury, including the cancer center and emergency room.
EMC announced in June that most, if not all, EMC employees were expected to be hired by Tenet, with salaries remaining the same. Micheletti confirmed this on Friday.
“We’ve transitioned most of the employees over to Tenet,” said Micheletti. “We have some other affiliated partners that also hired some of the staff business office functions and IT related functions as well as material management. All persons have been retained either by Tenet or one of our partner organizations."
Tenet, which owns Doctors Medical Center of Modesto and Doctors Hospital of Manteca, acquired EMC from Covenant Ministries of Benevolence, a family of Evangelical Covenant Church ministries.
“We selected Tenet to be the new owner of Emanuel Medical Center because we wanted to ensure that this vital community asset continues to serve Turlock for many decades to come,” said David Dwight, President, Covenant Ministries of Benevolence. “We are confident that we are leaving Emanuel Medical Center in good hands and that Tenet will be a dedicated and responsible steward of the hospital.”
