Sparks sale bittersweet, an ‘economic reality’

The sale of Sparks Health System to an out-of-state healthcare company is unfortunate, but reflects an economic reality of the medical sector and the Sparks board should be praised for making the tough decision to keep the hospital open.

That’s the consensus among a small sampling of Fort Smith area business and civic leaders who also believe the Fort Smith metro area is able to support three primary hospital systems.

While a significant last-minute snafu could send the whole thing down, Sparks Health System and Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates have signed a definitive agreement that would sell the hospital to HMA by Nov. 30.

Sparks officials have said a sale is necessary so a better capitalized company will be able to invest in the facilities and equipment needed to compete for patients and physicians. Therefore, the potential upside is that HMA will improve facilities, services and be better positioned to recruit physicians to the Fort Smith area.

The potential downside is that the Fort Smith region loses the only hospital system that was locally managed. (St. Edward Mercy Medical is owned by the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy, and Summit in Van Buren is operated by HMA.)

Another issue to consider is that HMA is a highly-leveraged, publicly held healthcare company in the volatile national health care sector.

Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Jim Spears is hopeful the Sparks-HMA deal will allow the hospital “to continue to serve the community has it has for over 100 years.” Spears also said it’s too soon to know what approach HMA will take with respect to providing overall services, especially in terms of coordinating services with Summit Medical Center, the Van Buren-based hospital now managed by HMA.

“That (coordinating Sparks and Summit) could be good or bad depending on the decisions made by the higher ups that will no longer be local people. That is the scary part,” Spears explained.

As to losing a locally-managed hospital, Spears said it is a sign of the times.

“Not having a community based hospital is sad. But it is a reflection of the modern world. I also am very sad we don’t have Hunt’s and the Boston Store anymore. It is the same thing. Corporate America has ripped the heart out of small communities and losing Sparks’ independence is but another blow,” he said.

Dr. Cole Goodman, an administrator at St. Edward Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith and a Fort Smith City Director, said the Sparks board did what it had to do to keep the doors open.

“As difficult as that decision must have been to make, I applaud the board for trying to make sure our community and region have the medical facilities needed to handle the medical needs of our population,” Goodman said of his local competitors.

Goodman said the potential for a negative from the deal may come from how HMA approaches charity care.

“Negative impact depends on HMA and how they manage the under and uninsured and continue to provide care for them or will they, as so many for-profit hospitals do, turn away the non-life threatening injuries and illnesses of indigent patients thereby putting more pressure on the already overloaded St Edward and its services,” Goodman explained.

Jerry Huff, the election coordinator for the Sebastian County Election Commission and former editor of the Times Record, is hopeful the HMA deal will help introduce new ideas and technology to a health system that has financially struggled. He said losing local control of a major hospital system is “a real loss for the community, but it’s economic reality.”  

Unlike Goodman, Huff says the Fort Smith area is not able to support three hospital systems.

“That’s one reason this company was interested in Sparks. Since it already (manages) Summit in Van Buren, there are immediate economies to be gained by purchasing an adjacent system (Sparks). The purchase almost certainly assures the rise of Sparks and the demise of Summit to a feeder entity,” Huff explained.

Overall, the deal is good for the community, Huff said, because it allows Sparks to remain viable and the “community will be better served with two viable health care systems.”