Owner of Gadsden Regional Medical Center must Sell Riverview in acquisition deal with FTC

FTC rules that Riverview must be sold in acquisiton deal

Riverview Regional Medical Center in Gadsden would be sold as part of a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over Community Health Systems Inc.’s acquisition of Health Management Associates Inc., Riverview’s owner. Terms of the settlement were announced Wednesday in a news release from the FTC.  CHS, based in Franklin, Tenn., must sell Riverview and the Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center in Hartsville, S.C., to buyers approved by the Joint Commission within six months after the FTC’s order is finalized.  CHS owns Gadsden’s other hospital, Gadsden Regional Medical Center, and Carolinas Hospital-Florence in Florence, S.C. According to Wednesday’s release, the FTC found that CHS ownership of all four hospitals in question would “substantially lessen competition for general acute care” and “eliminate valuable price and quality competition” in those two markets.  The FTC by a 4-0 vote accepted the consent agreement package, which will be published in the Federal Register and be subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the commission will decide whether to make it final.  Annistons Stringfellow hospital is included in the acquisition but will not be subject to being sold as a result of the acquisition.