The deal to sell the hospital to the new owners, the Prime Healthcare Foundation, is expected to close in mid-2106.
MANNINGTON TWP. -- For the second time in its nearly 100-year history, The Memorial Hospital of Salem County has been sold.
The announcement came Tuesday morning saying that Memorial Hospital's owner, Community Health Systems, would sell the acute care facility to the Prime Healthcare Foundation
"Our hospital has a long-standing tradition of providing personalized care and quality healthcare services for patients," said Ryan Jensen, chief executive officer of Memorial Hospital, in a statement.
"All of our caregivers are committed to service for the individuals who come to us for care and our broader community. An affiliation with Prime Healthcare provides opportunities to build on our history of service and success."
The Ontario, California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity. That's key because it will mean that the hospital will again become a not-for-profit facility, officials have confirmed.
The sale is expected to be completed by mid-2016. What Prime Healthcare paid for the hospital and its assets was not disclosed.
According to a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Prime Healthcare must receive a Certificate of Need approval from the state for the transfer of ownership of the hospital.
That process includes a full review by the Department of Health, a public hearing and a review with recommendations by the State Health Planning Board.
Impact on employees
The agreement announced Tuesday includes a commitment from Prime Healthcare "to hire substantially all employees into their same positions and compensation, with seniority recognized," according to a prepared statement.
Memorial Hospital has approximately 400 employees. The hospital's medical staff includes about 200 physicians.
Leadership at the hospital is also expected to remain in place, officials said.
There also will be no change or modification to the current staff privileges for physicians on the medical staff.
Employees and most hospital board members were told of the sale early Tuesday.
A healthcare workers' union chief says they will be watching as the sale process moves forward.
"Before any decisions are made to approve the sale of The Memorial Hospital of Salem County to Prime Healthcare we would expect a commitment to maintain and even expand services for the community, to honor the union rights of the nurses, to provide affordable healthcare and to invest in this community hospital for its future," said Ann Twomey, president of the Health Professionals and Allied Employees. "We intend to actively monitor the process through the New Jersey Department of Health."
HAPE has been involved several years in working to unionize hospital workers.
The new owners
The deal to sell the hospital includes "substantially all of the assets of the 126-bed hospital and its related outpatient services."
That will include property in Mannington Township on the Salem-Woodstown Road (Route 45) and also property in the Beckett area of Gloucester County.
The Prime Healthcare Foundation was founded in 2008 and has assets of more than $800 million.
It is part of Prime Healthcare which includes the non-profit foundation and Prime Healthcare Services. Together, they operate 38 acute care hospitals. Seven of those are under the foundation's wing. Memorial Hospital would make eight.
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According to the Prime Healthcare's website, the company "rescues financially distressed hospitals, turning them into thriving community assets and providing uninterrupted access to care."
Prime Healthcare's hospitals are located in Alabama, California, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas.
The four New Jersey locations are in the north. Pennsylvania locations include facilities in Philadelphia and Bristol.
Long local history
Memorial Hospital has a long history in the community.
It was found by a group of concerned citizens in 1919 as Salem County Memorial Hospital. The "Memorial" was in recognition of soldiers who died in World War I.
The hospital's original location was in what had once been Ford' Hotel at 87 Market St. in downtown Salem. The building today is known as the Fenwick Building and his owned by the county and houses the prosecutor's office.
As the years passed, the original facilities could not meet the needs of then-modern medicine.
Through tremendous support from the community, funds were raised to build a modern hospital north of the city in Mannington Township at a spot known as The Pointers where Kings Highway, Route 540 and Route 45 merge.
A grand opening was held in August 1951. Eventually even more space was needed and additions were built.
All the time the Salem County community offered its support through donations of money and their time. Various fundraisers were held through the decades to help support the hospital. Many remembered the hospital in their wills.
The first sale
In 2002 the non-profit hospital was sold to the for-profit Community Health Systems based in Franklin, Tennessee. CHS today operates 198 hospitals in 29 states, according to its corporate website.
In 2002, when CHS bought Memorial for $30-plus million, it was one of the first times that ownership of a hospital in New Jersey was transferred to a for-profit company.
The Salem Health and Wellness Foundation was created with the proceeds from the sale with a mission to use the money to provide grants for improving healthcare in the Salem County community in areas not met by the hospital.
Memorial Hospital has been facing increased competition over the years.
The Inspira Health System acquired the long-independent Elmer Community Hospital in Elmer and Inspira has expanded its presence in Cumberland County to the east and is doing the same in Gloucester County to the north.
Many county residents also opt to use Christiana Care in Delaware, especially for maternities.
Changes at Memorial
In 2014, Memorial Hospital, with the state's permission, closed its maternity ward.
The number of approved beds was also reduced from 140 to 126 in recent years. That was a "business decision," according to the Department of Health.
According to the Department of Health, there are 71 acute care hospitals in New Jersey. Of those, 61 are not-for-profit and 10 are for-profit.
Memorial Hospital and its employees, along with providing local healthcare, have also long been supporters of community events in the county.
"The Memorial Hospital of Salem County serves our community well and we look forward to working with the new owners once the transaction is complete next year," said Jennifer Jones, executive director of the Salem County Chamber of Commerce.
Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow South Jersey Times on Twitter @TheSJTimes. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
