Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation announced that it has officially acquired St. Barnabas Healthcare Center as of July 1. The transaction was subject to customary closing conditions and was reviewed by The Tennessee Attorney General’s office and the Tennessee Division of Healthcare Facilities.
Siskin Hospital will now increase in size from a 109-bed rehabilitation hospital to 217 beds with the addition of 108 SubAcute and nursing home beds at St. Barnabas. This increase enables the not-for-profit hospital to better serve more individuals in Chattanooga and the surrounding areas. The acquisition also permits Siskin Hospital to expand the continuum of care with the addition of the long-term services at St. Barnabas.
Carol Sim, president and CEO of Siskin Hospital, said, “The joining of St. Barnabas and Siskin Hospital is an important investment in our future. As the healthcare world changes, it is ever more important for us to think of ourselves as in the ‘rehabilitation’ business, not just in the ‘rehabilitation hospital’ business. Patients and insurers are looking for more options for rehabilitation, mostly focused on how to ensure the highest level of recovery for the lowest cost, and the beds at St. Barnabas give us another option to offer them.”
St. Barnabas is on Siskin Hospital’s main campus and has a connector bridge that will provide convenient access as the facilities and services are further joined. Sim explained that Siskin Hospital will be investing several hundred thousand dollars to upgrade St. Barnabas’ facility and infrastructure.
“Over the next several months, we will work to integrate our operations where it makes sense and leave separate and distinct those areas where that is best. This will be a work in progress. Collectively, employees will be involved in this effort with the overarching mission being to optimally serve our patients and our community,” Ms. Sim said.
All St. Barnabas employees who met Siskin Hospital’s standard employment requirements have become Siskin Hospital employees.
“This acquisition will enable us to viably grow our organization for years to come. We are enthusiastically embracing the opportunity of becoming a part of the Siskin Hospital team,” David Wildgen, president and CEO of St. Barnabas, said.