HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) and Steward Health Care today announced the signing of a definitive agreement for HCA Healthcare to acquire the operations of Steward Health Care’s five Utah hospitals. HCA Healthcare also entered into an agreement to lease the related real estate from its owner following the expected closing.

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The hospitals will become part of HCA Healthcare’s Mountain Division, which includes 11 hospitals in Utah, Idaho and Alaska.

“Utah is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, and the state’s need for healthcare continues to increase,” said Sam Hazen, chief executive officer of HCA Healthcare. “We believe the addition of these facilities will help us improve healthcare network options for patients and enable investment in services to meet increasing demand for healthcare. We look forward to welcoming them to the HCA Healthcare family.”

Steward Health Care also operates hospitals in Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The sale of these facilities to HCA Healthcare will enhance Steward Health Care’s ability to continue growing and reinvesting in other states and locations served by the health system.

Steward Health Care chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre commented, “We are very proud of Steward’s significant contributions to the quality and efficiency of operations in these facilities. We are confident that the combination with HCA Healthcare will enable the achievement of cost savings and further improved quality of care for patients in Utah. For Steward, this transaction frees up additional capital to more deliberately invest in its accountable care model (largest in the US and #2 in shared savings for MSSP 2020) by reinvesting in risk-based opportunities and health care expansion.”

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP acted as transaction counsel to HCA Healthcare. SVB Leerink acted as exclusive financial advisor to Steward Health Care. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About HCA Healthcare

Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services comprising 187 hospitals and approximately 2,000 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 32 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.

About Steward Health Care

Steward Health Care’s physician-led business model was built to unlock access to the highest-quality care at a sustainable cost, committed to providing personalized, ongoing medical services that positively impact patients’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Founded in 2010, Steward Health Care is the largest physician-led health care network with more than 5,500 providers and 43,000 health care professionals caring for 12.3 million patients a year through its global network of hospitals, urgent care centers, skilled nursing facilities and behavioral health services.

Based in Dallas, Steward currently operates 44 hospitals around the world, including 39 across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah, as well as five internationally within Malta and Colombia.

All references to “Company,” “HCA” and “HCA Healthcare” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.

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