Skaggs narrows partner search to six

Branson-based Skaggs Regional Medical Center, which has faced mounting operating losses in many of its recent fiscal years, has narrowed down a search for a strategic partner to a pool of six entities.

Skaggs Media Relations Specialist Michelle Leroux declined to disclose the six entities, saying the hospital and the organizations signed confidentiality agreements.

"We're just putting another brick in the mortar right now," she said of Skaggs aligning itself with a strategic partner.

Skaggs, a 165-bed community-owned hospital, ended fiscal 2011 with an operating loss of $1.9 million. Skaggs has recorded operating losses each of the last five fiscal years, with the deepest loss, $6 million, occurring in fiscal 2009, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

With the help of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pershing Yoakley & Associates, Skaggs sent out requests for proposal in February seeking a strategic partner to help the hospital improve its finances and continue delivering health care. In the Feb. 13 SBJ story "Losses send Skaggs on partner search," Leroux said Skaggs isn't necessarily up for sale, but it wouldn't rule out a buyout.

“We had a great response and have narrowed down our selection," Skaggs CEO and President William Mahoney said in a news release. "Representatives from all six will be invited to present to our board of directors why they would be the best fit for our hospital and community."

During its late April meeting, the board of trustees for Skaggs plans to select three to four finalists, which would be announced a few days later, Leroux said.

Representatives from CoxHealth and Mercy Hospital Springfield, health systems that had been reviewing Skaggs' requests for proposal, declined to say if they are being considered.

Leroux said the entity selected as Skaggs' strategic partner will likely be named by the end of August.[[In-content Ad]]