Akron buys Beeghly; scraps plan for HMHP

Forum’s deal sinks a plan originally set for St. Elizabeth’s in Boardman.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — Health-care officials say Akron Children’s Hospital’s purchase of Forum Health’s Beeghly Medical Park will provide money to shore up Northside Medical Center and lead to a new full-service children’s hospital in the Mahoning Valley.

Forum and Akron Children’s jointly announced Thursday the Forum Board of Trustees has approved the sale, which is contingent upon approval by Forum’s bondholders and regulatory authorities, including Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. The process will take a minimum of 60 days.

The sale of Beeghly Medical Park at 6505 Market St. came one day after Forum announced the sale of Beeghly Oaks, a 140-bed long-term care facility, also at 6505 Market. Vrable Healthcare Companies, a Columbus-based firm, is the buyer.

The sale prices for the medical park and Beeghly Oaks have not been released.

The medical park sale will significantly impact other Forum facilities and Humility of Mary Health Partners, the other major hospital system in the Youngstown-Warren area. HMHP operates St. Elizabeth Health Centers in Youngstown and Boardman and St. Joseph Health Center in Warren.

Looking ahead

Money from the sale will enable Forum to retire some of its debt and pay down some of its pension obligations, all while continuing to provide quality care in the rest of its facilities, said Dr. Keith T. Ghezzi, Forum’s interim president and chief executive officer.

Also, Forum will immediately begin transferring nonpediatric departments at Beeghly Medical Park to Northside Medical Center in Youngstown, Dr. Ghezzi said.

Departments to be relocated are obstetrics, gynecology and related women’s health services, such as the Center for Breast Health.

The Women’s and Infants Pavilion, which opened in 2005 and was one of Forum’s financial success stories in the last few years, will become an inpatient facility for children under Akron Children’s auspices, Dr. Ghezzi said.

Forum’s gain is apparently HMHP’s loss.

With the purchase of Beeghly Medical Park, Akron Children’s scrapped plans to occupy the seventh floor of HMHP’s St. E’s in Boardman, said William Considine, Akron Children’s president and chief executive officer.

Also, Considine said, once the sale is consummated, Akron Children’s will transfer its Youngstown-based pediatric services to Beeghly.

That includes a pediatric inpatient unit that Akron Children’s staffs at St. E’s in Youngstown.

St. E’s statement

St. Elizabeth officials issued this brief statement on the matter without further explanation: “Plans are being developed, and over the next few months more details will be shared as they become available.”

Currently, Akron Children’s offers pediatric services at various locations in the Mahoning Valley, including pediatric specialists in cardiology, pulmonology, orthopedics, neurology, nephrology, rheumatology, genetics and endocrinology at the Boardman Medical Pavilion on the St. E’s Boardman campus.

In August, Akron Children’s added to its list of Mahoning Valley services the Tri-County Child Advocacy Center, 1350 Fifth Ave., which offers medical and forensic evaluations for children suspected of being abused and neglected; and the Community Outreach, Education and Support Center at Southwoods Center, 100 DeBartolo Place.

Considine said that he doesn’t know yet when pediatric inpatient and related services will open at Beeghly but that the hospital plans to have a 30-bed inpatient unit and pediatric emergency department there.

Renovations to the Beeghly Medical Park are expected to take several months, officials said.

“We intend to make significant investments in Beeghly to create a state-of-the-art pediatric hospital that is family-friendly, child-focused and with the latest medical technology and pediatric equipment,” Considine said.

There will be some temporary job losses during the renovation, Dr. Ghezzi said. He said, however, in the long term, the project will provide additional job opportunities.

Considine also said he expects the project to create new jobs in the Mahoning Valley, both at Akron Children’s facilities and in private pediatric and family medicine physicians offices.

Akron Children’s currently has about 100 employees in Youngstown, he said.

Forum has been talking with Akron Children’s about the sale of Beeghly Medical Park since February, said Thomas Hollern, chairman of the Forum board.

“All the demographics show that the Mahoning Valley cannot support more than one pediatric hospital,” said Hollern, by way of explaining part of the reasoning behind the deal.

Hollern declined to reveal what Akron Children’s agreed to pay for Beeghly. That will be disclosed during the purchase process, he said.

Appraisal

Hollern said he believes Forum received “fair market value” for the facility, however.

He said the $43 million appraised value placed on the Beeghly campus property and equipment earlier this year does not reflect the market value of Beeghly Medical Park alone.

The reason, he said, is because the $43 million appraisal included Beeghly Oaks, which is not part of the Akron Children’s deal, and equipment at the Beeghly campus, much of which will be transferred to Northside.

Hollern characterized the agreement with Akron Children’s as addressing the board of trustees’ primary concerns beyond economics: “The continuation of quality health care and a dual system of health care in the Mahoning Valley.”

Considine said Akron Children’s wants to build on the “great work done here” and the good will earned by Tod Children’s Hospital. “Tod’s asthma program is one we can all learn from,” he added.

Forum closed Tod Children’s at the end of June.

To consolidate all of Akron Children’s pediatric care into one location at Beeghly Medical Park couldn’t be a better situation, Considine said.

“Our pledge is to keep the torch burning brightly for children’s care in the Mahoning Valley,” he added.