HCA Healthcare Snaps Up Steward Health Care’s Utah Hospitals

Just days after Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare announced a major merger deal, for-profit HCA Healthcare Inc. said it is planning to buy the five Utah hospitals of Steward Health Care.

The hospitals will become part of HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division, which includes 11 hospitals in Utah, Idaho and Alaska. HCA Healthcare also entered into an agreement to lease the related real estate from its owner following the expected closing.

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare has 187 hospitals and approximately 2,000 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom.

“Utah is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, and the state’s need for healthcare continues to increase,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare, in a statement. “We believe the addition of these facilities will help us improve healthcare network options for patients and enable investment in services to meet increasing demand for healthcare. We look forward to welcoming them to the HCA Healthcare family.”

Based in Dallas, for-profit Steward currently operates 44 hospitals around the world, including 39 across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah, as well as five internationally within Malta and Colombia. The company said said it would use the proceeds from the sale to continue growing and reinvesting in other states, including in its accountable care model.

In August, Steward completed the acquisition of five hospitals in South Florida from Tenet Healthcare Corp., including North Shore Medical Center, Coral Gables Hospital, Hialeah Hospital, and Palmetto General Hospital in Miami-Dade County, and Florida Medical Center in Broward County.