All the looks of a good sale

There will be no perfect solutions to the problem facing Forum Health as it searches for buyers for the health care system’s various facilities and components, but the sale of Beeghly Medical Park to Akron Children’s Hospital appears to be a sound move in the community’s best interest.

We had bemoaned the loss of Tod Children’s Hospital and had been critical of its unceremonious end. A tripartite collaboration among Forum, Akron and Humility of Mary Health Partners seems to have been doomed from the beginning.

Akron’s presumed acquisition of Beeghly — there is a formal review process that must be followed — would seem to be headed toward the preservation of a children’s hospital in the Mahoning Valley. At the same time, it would be expected that HMHP, which operates St. Elizabeth Health Centers in Mahoning County and St. Joseph Health Center in Warren, will continue to provide quality pediatric care as well.

A community asset

Just a month ago, Dr. Keith T. Ghezzi, president and chief executive officer, wrote in Forum’s newsletter that the potential purchasers at the time for forum’s assets were “all for-profit companies.” The sale of Beeghly to Akron Children’s breaks that mold and, we hope, sets the stage for the sale of other Forum assets to not-for-profit entities that would preserve the century-old community spirit upon which Forum was built.

The transfer of some hospital operations from Beeghly to Forum’s North Side Medical Center also provides a stronger foundation for preserving the old North Side Hospital as a facility that helps serve the needs of Youngstown and southern Trumbull County.

Forum’s board and its administrators, as well as working groups established recently to involve local, state and congressional officeholders in a process that will redefine the area’s health care system, will be looking at other offers and alternatives in the months — possibly even years — ahead.

Among Forum’s major assets are Northside, Trumbull Memorial and Hillside Rehabilitation hospitals. Thomas Hollern, president of Forum’s board, has said Forum is looking for buyers who can pay a fair price and are committed to what is best for the community.

The details of the Beeghly sale have not yet been released, but in a phone conversation yesterday, Hollern characterized the sale as an example of meeting those criteria.