The State Attorney General's Office has approved the sale of Turlock's Emanuel Medical Center to Tenet Healthcare Corporation, clearing the way for the hospital to change hands.
The Attorney General must review all such sales to ensure that the transaction does not result in a reduction in available care for the region.
The hospital will officially be owned by Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare Corporation. Both Emanuel Medical Center and Doctors Medical Center of Modesto would be operated as a single unit.
The $131 million sale was first announced Feb. 21. It will see all Emanuel Medical Center assets transferred to Tenet save for cash, some religious artifacts, and four non-hospital operations: Brandel, Cypress, Hospice of Emanuel, and Jessica's House.
Emanuel Medical Center's name would not change following the sale, despite other media reports to the contrary.
The decision would impose five years of restrictions upon Tenet, requiring the new owner to maintain most of Emanuel Medical Center's critical services at their current levels. That includes emergency medical services, neonatal intensive care, obstetric services, cardiac care, women's health and oncology services.
Tenet would be required to continue to participate in Medi-Cal and Stanislaus County healthcare contracts for at least five years. And for six years, the new owners would be required to provide at least $3.2 million in annual charity care and nearly $400,000 in community benefit services.
Tenet must also commit to invest $30 million into Emanuel Medical Center.
The Attorney General's approval doesn't necessarily mean that Emanuel Medical Center's sale is imminent. A few final details remain to be hashed out between Emanuel Medical Center and Tenet.
“We continue to work through the acquisition process and our completion of the transaction remains subject to the parties' satisfaction of closing conditions,” said Pennie Rorex, Emanuel Medical Center Spokesperson. “We currently expect the transaction to be concluded in the first quarter of 2014.”
