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Tag: Prisma Health

  • County, Providence mend rift on ER sale

    WINNSBORO  – A resolution passed by Fairfield County Council Monday night has headed off a rift that developed between the county and Providence Health over Prisma’s proposed purchase of Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room.

    Following Prisma Health’s surprise announcement in March that it had signed a deal to acquire the ER along with three other Midlands hospitals, Fairfield County officials – not having been informed of the sale – requested the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which signed off on the deal, to pump the brakes on the proposed purchase agreement.

    The county’s concerns were numerous – foremost was their concern about the continued delivery of quality health care for Fairfield residents. The county was also concerned about the effect the sale would have on its financial investment in the ER – $10 million the county had agreed to pay Providence over 10 years to be used for operation of the ER as well as $4 million the county had been required to escrow as assurance those ten $1 million payments would be made.

    Fairfield County and (the former) Fairfield Memorial Hospital questioned the legality of the DHEC staff’s approval of an amended Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) that cemented the deal between Prisma and Providence Health.

    Through its attorneys, the county formally requested in March that DHEC conduct a final review of the decision that allowed Prisma Health to acquire the four health care facilities.

    A resolution passed Monday evening by Fairfield County Council and agreed to by Providence appears to have alleviated the county’s concerns by authorizing an amendment to the original transformational agreement (between Fairfield and Providence Health) in which both Fairfield and Providence agree that if Prisma does carry through with the purchase of the ER in Winnsboro, Prisma will return $3.5 million of the cash currently held in escrow, back to the county. The remaining $500K balance of the escrow will then be credited to the county’s next $1 million annual payment (which is paid quarterly).  In return for that financial concession, the resolution states that the county agrees to withdraw the appeal it has before the South Carolina administrative law court and then, going forward, to provide support in favor of Prisma’s acquisition of Providence.

    “Everything else stays in place – negotiated term of providing care to the citizens, keeping the ER open, indigent care issues and other things,” County Attorney Tommy Morgan said.

    “That’s all good news,” Council Chairman Neil Robinson said before gaveling the meeting to a close.

    “The material change to benefit the county,” County Administrator Jason Taylor told The Voice, “is that the $3.5 million we had tied up in escrow is now back in the general fund for our use, and our residents will continue to receive quality health care through the ER.”

  • Fairfield officials say ER sale was flawed; call for review by DHEC

    WINNSBORO  – Following Prisma Health’s surprise announcement last week that it had signed a deal to acquire Providence Health – Fairfield Emergency Room (ER) along with three other hospitals, Fairfield County officials have requested the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which signed off on the deal, to pump the brakes on the proposed purchase agreement.

    The county is joined by requests from three other governments of Camden (KershawHealth), Columbia (Providence Hospital) and Richland County (Providence Northeast) along with Lexington County.

    In a letter dated March 13, Fairfield County, through its attorneys, Bruner, Powell, Wall and Mullins, LLC, formally requested DHEC to conduct a final review of the decision that allowed Prisma Health to acquire the four health care facilities, documents obtained by The Voice state.

    Fairfield County and (the former) Fairfield Memorial Hospital are questioning the legality of the DHEC staff’s approval of an amended Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) that cemented the deal between Prisma and Providence Health, according to the request.

     “Grounds for this request,” the letter states, “are that DHEC’s proposed decision regarding the amendments to the Prisma Health COPA is in error as a matter of law and unsupported factually in numerous respects.”

    Among other things, the letter states that DHEC “failed to publish notice of receipt of the request in the State Register and failed to publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation that the application was complete and otherwise provide notice to affected persons of the rights to request a public hearing. Indeed, Fairfield County and Fairfield Memorial Hospital were not made aware of the proposed transaction or the efforts to modify the COPA until the staff decision was issued on February 28 modifying the COPA and Prisma published its press release announcing the agreement to acquire the assets of Kershaw Health and Providence Health [hospitals].

    “To this date, Fairfield County is not privy to the details of the proposed transaction and the information contained in DHEC’s file that would reflect the potential benefits or disadvantages to the citizens of Fairfield County,” the letter states.

    “Upon review of the entire DHEC file,” the letter states, “…the [DHEC] Board should overturn the staff decision and remand the matter to the DHEC staff for a full, open and fair review…to include a directive for compliance with the public notice requirements and opportunity for public comment and hearing as provided by statute.”

    Fairfield County has raised financial considerations as well.

    Fairfield and Providence have a deal in which the county agreed to provide $1 million a year for 10 years to Providence Health to be used solely for the use and operation of the Providence Health Fairfield ER.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor said the county had expected to receive about $250,000 in property taxes a year from Providence, revenue that would likely disappear now since, he said, county officials have been told that Prisma operates as a non-profit.

    When contacted Monday afternoon about Fairfield’s request for a review, DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said via email that she was “focused on COVID-19,” and deferred comment to another spokesperson who wasn’t made available as of press time.

    Prisma says the acquisition will provide the Greenville-based health provider with “new opportunities to advance the delivery of accessible high-quality care in communities across the regions it serves,” a news release said.

    “Providence and KershawHealth are known to share our commitment to improving patient experiences, clinical quality and access to care,” Mark O’Halla, president and chief executive officer of Prisma, said in the release. “We look forward to continuing our mutual goal of enhancing the health of our communities.”

    Taylor said the Prisma deal injects uncertainty into residents’ future access to healthcare, and injecting uncertainty during a pandemic is a prescription for disaster, he said.

    “Any uncertainty in healthcare lately is not a welcome development,” Taylor said. “With the coronavirus, we do not need to be uncertain about the status of healthcare in the county.”

    Taylor said county officials have a lot of questions that need to be answered.

    “That’s why we’re asking for this slowdown,” Taylor said. “Fairfield County and all the impacted communities around us, we need to have certainty that we’re going to have medical coverage for our citizens.

    “We should have had the ability to input. We want that and to know how the sale is going to affect us,” Taylor said.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

  • Fairfield County asks Prisma to slow ER purchase

    Council spends $1M annually on ER, but was not aware it was being sold

    WINNSBORO – In a strongly worded statement issued Tuesday morning, Fairfield County Council called on Prisma Health to “provide more information to the public, and to us,” regarding the impending acquisition of Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room in Winnsboro.

    In the statement, the council said it is joining the elected leaders in Kershaw, Lexington and Richland counties in seeking more information. Those counties’ hospitals (Providence in Columbia, Providence Northeast in Richland County and KershawHealth in Camden) are also being purchased by Prisma Health. All four hospitals are owned by LifePoint Health out of Brentwood, TN.

    Following the announcement of the pending sale last week, County Administrator Jason Taylor told The Voice that the county was having an attorney look at its contract regarding Providence Health-Fairfield Emergency Room to see if there are any possible negative ramifications.

    “I have also talked with our Providence representative, Joseph Bernard, to ask if we could expect any changes,” Taylor said. “He said there should be none.”

    The ER was funded by $12M from LifePoint Health for construction of the new facility and $10M ($1M a year for the next 10 years) from Fairfield County. South Carolina’s Hospital Transformation Program, which supports rural access to healthcare resources, contributed nearly $4M in transformational funding.

    Our citizens deserve a voice in the future of their health care choices.

    Fairfield County Council

    The statement issued by council stated that “Prior to the March 6, 2020 media coverage publicly announcing this impending sale of these health care service providers, we had not been informed or consulted about this important change in the delivery of health care services in our communities. Our citizens deserve transparency and a voice in the future of health care choices where they call home.”

    Council called on Prisma Health to slow down the process of the sale and to “begin a conversation with the citizens that count on available health care services in their communities. “

    The ER opened in December 2018 near the intersection of Highway 34 and US Bypass 321 in Winnsboro to assure continued emergency health care for the citizens of Fairfield County as Fairfield Memorial Hospital began its process of closing its doors.

    Bernard addressed the Fairfield County Council Monday evening with the purpose of updating Council, saying he would update council on the pending sale of the ER to Prisma, but his comments were limited, with no specifics.

    “Right now, I have no idea what the timeline is for the sale to be finalized,” Bernard said. “We’re confident, however, that this is an enhancement for the community’s health care.”

    “There are a lot of unanswered questions at this point,” Council Chairman Neil Robinson said following Monday night’s meeting. “As the council, we want to be sure that our citizens are provided the health care services that they need and deserve. We have questions.”