Over the past decade or so, the conversion of nonprofit hospitals to for-profit status seemed to be an inexorable trend. But in the last couple of weeks the movement has run into speed bumps on both coasts.
On the East Coast Tenet Healthcare announced its decision to abandon transactions that would have brought four Connecticut hospitals into Tenet’s for-profit fold. At the same time Tenet announced the demise of its partnership with the Yale-New Haven Health System.
The developments are attributed in part to Connecticut’s strong anti-for-profit (or pro-nonprofit) sentiment. The state has a grand total of one investor-owned hospital, a 78-bed facility in Sharon.
At virtually the same moment, nonprofit Catholic health system Trinity Health announced an agreement to acquire Saint Francis Care and its three Connecticut hospitals.
Meanwhile on the West Coast, all 18 of California’s Congressional Representatives signed a letter pressing that state’s attorney general to block the sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System to for-profit Prime Healthcare Services.
In an irony of timing these developments occur just a few weeks after the respected journal JAMA released a study showing that conversion to for-profit status doesn’t worsen or better clinical quality or community accessibility to hospitals but does improve financial margins
