HMA to invest $20 million in Sparks Health System
by March 11, 2010 11:47 am 101 views
When executives with Health Management Associates said they planned to invest in facility and service improvements at Sparks Health System, they meant it.
Sparks CEO Melody Trimble has confirmed that Naples, Fla.-based HMA will spend $20 million in the 2010 fiscal year on facility and service upgrades to the hospital. Trimble first announced the $20 capital expenditure budget during a Mar. 3 speech to the Fort Smith Rotary Club.
Trimble told The City Wire the $20 million will be spent on multiple things.
Yes we do have a large capital expenditure that we plan to do. It’s over a variety of things, none of those which have been clearly defined at this point,” Trimble said.
HMA purchased Sparks Health System in a $138-million deal that closed Nov. 30. The company operates 55 hospitals — including Summit Medical in Van Buren — in 15 states and employs about 33,700. The publicly held (NYSE: HMA) hospital company is directly and indirectly affiliated with 8,000 physicians.
When the decision to sell to HMA was first announced, then Sparks Board Chairman Judy Boreham said the goal was to find a company with the capital to make the necessary investments to keep up with technology and patient care services.
Sparks and HMA officials have said in previous interviews that HMA is likely to invest millions of dollars to build out the advanced surgical center that is now just a shell in the $40.4 million Renaissance Project the hospital completed in 2008. The 142,000-square-foot addition to the hospital included new areas for emergency services and a critical care center.
During the Feb. 16 The Compass Conference, HMA Division President Britt Reynolds said Sparks is a good foundation on which HMA can build a first-class facility.
Another planned change is greater sharing of information — primarily through electronic health records — between Sparks and Summit. HMA has said the two hospitals will operate as separate organizations, but will better communicate and coordinate with respect to patient and community needs.