Prisma Health’s plan to buy Providence, KershawHealth would help the Midlands and SC

Prisma Health’s proposal to purchase Providence Health and KershawHealth hospitals from LifePoint Health is the right move for the patients and communities served by these health care organizations.

And it is the right solution for South Carolina: we believe Providence Health and KershawHealth are uniquely positioned to support the Prisma Health purpose in the Midlands area.

These health care facilities — and their nurses, physicians and other team members — share our commitment to advancing clinical quality, providing access to health care and community health improvement.

Synergy, values

Once we heard that the hospitals were to be sold, we quickly stepped forward to explore this opportunity; we recognized the synergy and values that these three hospitals could bring to Prisma Health.

Over the past three years we have become South Carolina’s largest private health care employer, and here are just some of things we do in that role:

▪ We have more than 30,000 team members who are among the best in what they do.

▪ We contribute $640 million a year in charity and unreimbursed care in our communities.

▪ We provide another $170 million in various resources that benefit our communities.

▪ We don’t turn away anyone who needs us — whether they are urban or rural, insured or uninsured.

In fact, we serve:

▪ 77% of all Richland County Medicaid patients.

▪ 50% of all Lexington County Medicaid patients.

▪ 85% of all charity care patients from Richland County.

▪ 45% of all charity care patients from Lexington County.

Big challenges

But no sector of the economy is the same as it was 10 years ago and that includes health care, which is increasingly challenged with reduced payments, more underinsured and uninsured patients, significant regulatory changes and much more.

By bringing KershawHealth and Providence into Prisma Health, we will create a scale of operations that will put us in a better position amid this turbulent environment.

Difficult choices

Make no mistake about it: there are difficult choices ahead for Prisma Health and other safety net providers that the community and other hospitals rely on to provide the highest level of medical expertise — from providing complex care for trauma patients to leading the response to a public health emergency.

Because of the investments required to provide this highest standard of care, safety net providers operate on thin margins; our Midlands operations, for example, has had a negative operating margin since 2016.

This financial position is not sustainable, and we are in the midst of a turnaround plan.

With this acquisition we have options to improve quality and streamline expense structures. These options will still focus on expense reduction, but they would be less severe than those we’d face if we were not acquiring these facilities.

The better choice

As a longtime resident of the Midlands community, I believe wholeheartedly that this acquisition is the right solution for our region, for these health care organizations and for Prisma Health. These hospitals will be sold to some organization and there are but two choices:

▪ An out-of-state operator, most likely a for-profit organization.

▪ A local nonprofit, South Carolina-based organization that is overseen by your friends and neighbors.

We believe that our patients and our state will be better off with the second option.

Rick Wheeler is the chairman of Prisma Health’s Board of Directors.