GEORGETOWN, Ohio — After seven months and two request for proposals, a buyer has been selected for Brown County General Hospital.

Pending the completion of due diligence, estimated to take about 60 days, Essent Healthcare will become the new owners of the now county-owned hospital. The purchase is expected to secure the future of Brown County General Hospital by bringing it financial security, said Lee Edwards, marketing consultant for BCGH.

"Essent will breathe new life into Brown County General Hospital," Edwards said.

Essent was selected from four proposals, said Margery Paeltz, president of the Brown County Board of Commissioners. The other three that submitted proposals were Brim Healthcare, Lifepoint and Quorum Health Resources. Paeltz said Brim determined it would need more time, something commissioners and trustees on the Brown County Regional HealthCARE Board of Trustees, decided against. Both Lifepoint and QHR offered management proposals, Paeltz said, while the RPF stated a preference for purchase.

Michael Browder, president and chief executive officer of Essent Healthcare, Inc. said in a press release that Essent was honored to have been selected.

"We see tremendous opportunity in Brown County and we look forward to becoming a permanent member of this growing community."

A call for additional comment to Browder was not returned as of press time Friday.

A price for BCGH will be determined in the next 60 days as attorneys for both parties hammer out the details of the transaction. However, Essent Healthcare did make statements regarding certain issues within its proposal.

Under the proposal, Essent will offer employment to all employees at the time of closing, with full credit for years of service and rates of pay and with a competitive benefit package.

Essent will also provide capital for facility and equipment enhancements and proposed to invest "significant amounts of capital over the next three years to include the construction of two new floors with approximately 50 private inpatient rooms," according to a press release.

Essent will also expand services at BCGH with emphasis on cardiology, orthopedics, primary care and behavioral health.

Essent agreed to assume BCGH's debt, contract obligations and capital leases, pending completion of the due diligence process, according to the release.

Financial distress led to commissioners and trustees to pursue a lease or sale situation to keep BCGH afloat. According to previous information from Michael Patterson, chief executive officer of BCRH, some of those financial issues include a large increase in uncompensated care and significant reduction in government funding assistance. The amount of unpaid care that BCRH has provided grew to $3.6 million in 2005, $6.1 million in 2007 and 2008, and is still going up.

Additionally, the $2.6 million in government assistance earmarked specifically for county-owned hospitals that BCRH previously received was cut to $170,000 in 2008.

The first bids were opened July 13 and the two proposals, from Lifepoint and QHR, were rejected. Both proposed a five-year lease. Lifepoint later sought to add an amendment to its offer that included a purchasing option, but it was presented after the bid deadline and could not be considered.

The second RPF was advertised in August.

Before deciding on Essent Healthcare, a group of board members and county commissioners visited one of Essent's hospitals located in western Pennsylvania last week. Before Essent purchased Southwest Regional Medical Center, it had been experiencing annual operating losses of approximately $1.5 million, according to the press release. After capital investments of nearly $9 million, the addition of 20 inpatient beds and the expansion of services including behavior health, cardiology, intensive care, orthopedics and cancer care, the hospital is now operating in the black, according to the release.

"We are very impressed with Essent, their vision for our hospital and how they have helped other hospitals like ours turn around and prosper to provide quality health care to patients in their market and communities," said Eric Sontag, chairman of the Brown County Regional HealthCARE Board of Trustees.

Sontag said the trustees believe Essent will be a strong partner and said the decision to sell to Essent is the "best way to preserve our hospital and the delivery of health care for the future."

"As we saw at the Pennsylvania hospital, Essent has been successful in stabilizing other community hospitals that have faced challenges very similar to ours," Sontag said.

Edwards said the sale of BCGH will provide job security for its employees. However, the role of the trustees may change from a board responsible for financial considerations to an advisory board focused more on quality of service.

Once the sale is complete, Brown County commissioners will cease to have anything to do with the management of the hospital.

Contact Misty Maynard at misty.maynard@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 272.

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