Auction for St. Chris children’s hospital morphs into a battle for Philly health-care market
On the one side is
Jefferson is expected to be challenged by
In a move that sharply increases the stakes in the fight for market share, the
The auction, triggered by the Hahnemann bankruptcy, is set for Wednesday. And the potential clash of the region's health-care giants troubles physicians at St. Christopher's.
"We're going to get caught in a big business crush between major health systems," said
Neither Independence nor Penn would comment.
The circling around St. Christopher's is happening as the business of health care slowly moves toward a system in which insurers pay health-care systems flat fees to provide care for a defined population, putting providers at financial risk if they don't do a good job. The idea for consumers is they would ultimately be healthier and save money.
For Jefferson, owning a children's hospital could be a key building block in such a world, enabling it to offer a full spectrum of services to families, especially if it can expand outpatient services to the suburbs. It's not clear whether St. Christopher's is a profitable operation, but it has long been considered more financially sound than Hahnemann.
Penn already works closely with
While working on a bid for St. Christopher's, Jefferson is also nearing a deal with
If Jefferson completes its pending acquisition of
Penn, for its part, appeared for a time to not see Jefferson's expansion as a threat. That may have changed.
"The stakes are getting higher and higher here for Penn and Jefferson," said
If Tower prevails in Wednesday's auction, it is unlikely that much would change in the marketplace, benefiting Penn and CHOP, Grauman said. Tower's closest hospital to St. Christopher's is
On the other hand, if Jefferson and its partners win, St. Christopher's could benefit from being part of a network of hospitals where many thousands of babies are born annually, some of them needing advanced care available only at a children's hospital, said Achintya Moulick, St. Christopher's chief medical officer and chair of cardiac surgery.
Moulick and other St. Christopher's physicians said last week that the Jefferson deal makes sense for other reasons, as well. The hospitals in the consortium, for example, account for nearly 60 percent of St. Christopher's inpatient transfers.
St. Christopher's doctors acknowledge that it's unlikely that any potential winner of Wednesday's auction would close the facility at
"If you have the interest of
CHOP, which does not have a contract with
That auction that will decide St. Christopher's future is scheduled to start Wednesday at 10 a.m in
"We are cautiously optimistic that we will receive more than one qualified bid on Monday," said
___
(c)2019 The Philadelphia Inquirer
Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Pa. Pharmacists Urge Support For Bills To Increase Pricing Transparency
North America Contact Lenses Market to Register Over 30% Share in 2025: Global Market Insights, Inc.
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News