Published: August 20, 2008 10:58 pm            

Clarian leases Tipton Hospital

Agreement will span 35 years

TIPTON — As of Jan. 1, Tipton County Memorial Hospital will be owned by Clarian Health Partners, a corporation which owns seven Indiana hospitals, including Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

The decision was unanimous Tuesday night in a joint meeting of the county commissioners, county council and Tipton hospital board.

Because the hospital is county owned, all three entities were needed for approval. The hospital has been under Clarian management for 10 years. The company will now have a lease on the hospital for 35 years.

“It won’t be a county hospital anymore,” explained Tim McGeath, an attorney from Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman, which represents the hospital.

“Clarian will form a new organization, Tipton Hospital Incorporated,” he said.

“The transition will be seamless to everyone in the company and the people in the hospital,” McGeath said.

The county will still own the land and the building. Clarian will retain everything else, including employees, services, debt and liability.

McGeath said the reorganized board will consist of two Clarian board members and five people who either live or work in Tipton.

Retaining services was a key component in entering into the contract, said Ben Hobbs, chairman of the board of trustees for Tipton Hospital.

Before entering into a contract with Clarian 10 years ago, Hobbs said the small county hospital had little leverage when it came to negotiating contracts with insurance companies or bringing in physicians and specialists.

“We had rising costs and decreasing reimbursement,” Hobbs said.

While the hospital is technically owned by the county, Hobbs said the hospital has never used taxpayer dollars for funding. It has been self-sustaining. As a smaller hospital, Hobbs worried about the leverage it would have concerning Medicaid and Medicare, as well as other aspects of the hospital.

He said Clarian infused $1 million of capital into the hospital for information technology system upgrades.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.