Hospital Takeover?

The original St. John's Hospital in the early 1940s

A report in the LA Times today suggests UCLA is considering a bid to take over St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica.  St. John's is only a few blocks from Santa Monica Hospital which UCLA previously acquired.

UCLA and the nation's largest Catholic healthcare system are teaming up on a potential acquisition of St. John's Health Center, a storied Santa Monica hospital up for sale after a recent management shake-up. The partnership between UCLA Health System and Ascension Health Alliance in St. Louis is one proposal under consideration by St. John's and its nonprofit Catholic owner, the Sisters of Charity Leavenworth Health System in Denver, according to people familiar with the matter...

A purchase of St. John's by UCLA would further strengthen its local market power, and that could draw extra scrutiny from government officials concerned about some healthcare deals reducing competition and boosting medical prices. The California attorney general's office is already examining the effects of healthcare consolidation statewide. A spokeswoman for UCLA said it "does not have a bid in alone or in partnership with any other party to purchase St. John's." Ascension, UCLA's potential partner, has been expanding in California. In December, it agreed to an affiliation with St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles and five other California hospitals owned by another Catholic system. Ascension runs more than 70 hospitals in 21 states and it had revenue of $16.6 billion in the year that ended June 30...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-saint-johns-deal-20130323,0,420817.story