MultiCare says purchase price for Capital Medical Center is $44.6 million
Tacoma-based MultiCare Health System, which wants to acquire Capital Medical Center in west Olympia, has submitted a letter to state health officials, arguing that a change in ownership should be exempt from a regulatory process known as certificate of need.
The letter also identifies the purchase price for the hospital at $44.6 million.
The exemption request was sent last month to the state Department of Health, which oversees the certificate of need program, which typically comes into play when a new hospital or medical service or more beds are proposed. The process requires a detailed application to the state, and decisions can be appealed and result in public hearings.
Providence St. Peter Hospital recently went through that process to add more beds.
It is not clear when DOH might rule on the exemption.
MultiCare says the certificate of need review is not necessary because there will be little change to Capital Medical Center, according to the letter.
There will be no change to the number of beds and no material changes to the services provided by the hospital, according to the letter. Capital Medical also will continue to operate in its existing west Olympia location and no construction is being considered in the proposed transaction, the letter reads.
There’s also legal precedent, according to MultiCare, following a lawsuit between the state Hospital Association and Department of Health in 2015. The legal ruling concluded that “transactions resulting in a change in ownership interests or change of control were not subject to CN review,” according to the letter.
MultiCare also points to the history of Capital Medical Center itself, saying the state did not seek certificate of need review when a company called Capella Healthcare bought the hospital. Tennessee-based LifePoint Health is the current operator of the 107-bed hospital.
MultiCare’s purchase of the medical center is expected to close this spring, according to President and Chief Executive Bill Robertson in a full-page advertisement in The Olympian earlier this year.
“It has been MultiCare’s privilege to serve the Thurston County region for the last two decades,” Robertson said. “I know that there is still much for us to learn about the needs in the region and how we can be of ever greater service.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
