The board of directors and county trustees for Indian River Medical Center in Vero Beach, Florida, chose Cleveland Clinic to take over the publicly owned hospital, turning down larger offers from Adventist Sunbelt and for-profit operator HCA.
TCPalm reported Cleveland Clinic’s offer was worth up to $352 million. HCA bid $461 million, Adventist offered $427 million and Orland Health offered $302 million. Trustees and board members who supported the bid cited Cleveland Clinic’s commitment to patient care and reputation as an industry leader in making their choice.
“The use of the technology and moving into the future—if they said it once they said it probably at least five times—they are going to shape the future of health care, not live in it,” said Marybeth Cunningham, chair of the hospital district. “I would like us to be part of that. I just think that’s really exciting to be part of.”
Cleveland Clinic has proposed retaining all of the 335-bed hospital’s 1,700 employees. HCA’s bid, while bigger, didn’t outweigh officials’ reservations about turning over the facility to a for-profit company.
“They don’t tend to put the patient first,” Hal Brown, MD, the hospital’s chief of staff, said in November 2017 when HCA was named among the four finalists. “I don’t know how you can rely on promises with that kind of mentality.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.