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This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. |
An expansion of Baptist Health Care (initially known as Project Argonaut) was announced on June 26, 2008, that included the purchase of West Florida Hospital for $245 million (subject to federal approval) and approximately $85 million in new construction. The expansion was intended to be completed within a few months, with an agreed upon deadline of December 31.
| This acquisition will enhance the best of both organizations and provides for expansion of our services to meet the needs of our patients and the community. … We know the acquisition of West Florida Hospital will allow us to continue our high standard of personal care while expanding services to serve the entire Northwest Florida region. | ||
—Al Stubblefield, President/CEO of Baptist Health Care | ||
The organization signed an asset purchase agreement with West Florida's parent company, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), after which the necessary regulatory approval was obtained. However, the frozen credit markets related to the subprime mortgage crisis and recession prevented Baptist from obtaining the financing necessary to close the deal. According to a financial expert quoted by the Pensacola News Journal, "Baptist is pretty well leveraged. They have a substantial debt load, a lot of which comes from their financing the Andrews Institute."[1]
As late as October 2008, Baptist CEO Al Stubblefield remained confident that the expansion would move forward and that Baptist was "well positioned to go to the bond markets by the end of this calendar year."[1] However, as the deadline passed with no bonds issued, the expansion will likely not take place.
Had the purchase been completed, the current West Florida Hospital on Davis Highway would have become the new Baptist Hospital, supplementing the presence of Baptist Medical Park - Nine Mile in north Pensacola. The campus would have featured an expanded Baptist Cancer Center in affiliation with the Moffitt Cancer Institute; Baptist Neurosciences Center complemented by a rehab hospital for neurologic and orthopaedic conditions; Baptist Heart & Vascular Center of Excellence; and an expanded Emergency Department. The new Baptist Hospital would have also offered a new parking garage and new physician office buildings. Additionally, Baptist Health Care would have assumed the current West Florida Hospital Primary Care Practices (nine neighborhood medical centers), creating the largest primary care network in the region.
External links & references
- www.bhcexpansion.org – Informational website about the expansion