Doctors make offer to purchase Avoyelles Hospital

   Avoyelles Hospital will be sold to a group of local doctors and their corporate partner.

  “This means we who live and work here will make sure the hospital is run properly and meets the needs of the people of this community,”  Dr. Donna Breen said. Breen is one of 10 Avoyelles Parish doctors in the Central Louisiana Hospital Group purchasing the hospital from Progressive Acute Care.

  The group seeks to purchase Avoyelles Hospital, Winn Parish Hospital and Oakdale Community Hospital and some doctors’ office buildings owned by the hospitals. The group also includes doctors in Winn and Allen parishes and corporate partner Allegiance Health Management, which is headquartered in Shreveport.

   Dr. L.J. Mayeux, another local physician in the group, said it is “an exciting time for Avoyelles Hospital. We are going to have a local owner that understands and knows the needs of the community and local doctors. There are plans to grow the hospital, including the recruitment of new physicians.” 

 

   Central Louisiana Hospitals will pay $10.55 million in cash for the properties. In addition it will assume lease obligations, responsibility for employees’ accumulated paid-time-off (PTO) and any unpaid salaries and benefits at the time of the sale. The agreement stipulates that the cash payment will be reduced “dollar for dollar” for any amount of PTO over $765,000 and will be increased “dollar for dollar” for any PTO obligations less than $565,000. It also states the cash payment will be reduced to offset any amount of outstanding leases over $2 million.

  Central Louisiana Hospitals submitted its offer to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette in July. The court held a hearing on July 26 and accepted the agreement package. The deadline for any competing bids was Aug. 19.

   In its ruling on the agreement offer, the court noted that Progressive had completed “arm’s length negotiations” with Central Louisiana Hospitals in preparation for what is called a “stalking horse” bid. The purpose of this kind of procedure is for an interested buyer to present a fair bid to purchase the properties of the bankrupt party. It is intended to both scare away “low-ball” bidders and attract other bidders who can rely on the research done by the “stalking horse” and just bid a little higher.

   The term refers to the practice a few centuries ago of a hunter hiding behind his horse to avoid spooking the prey and draw it out of the bushes.

 

   Officials with Allegiance would not comment on the proposed purchase of Progressive Acute Care’s properties.

   The company operates hospitals in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia and Arkansas.

   Its website says the company “believes in teamwork and a collaborative approach to solving the issues we as healthcare providers face in our daily operations. We stand behind our corporate motto, ‘Pledging allegiance to excellence in customer service.’

   “We believe customer service begins with our internal partners,” the entry continues, “and we recognize and support diversity and uniqueness of each of our team members.”

  Allegiance states that its mission is to “provide maximum assistance to rural and community healthcare facilities, enabling them to prosper and succeed with their mission of providing for the diversified healthcare needs of their communities.”

   Breen said the doctors have been told the sale could be finalized by Sept. 1. They met with Allegiance officials this past Monday -- which would have been the date for the auction.

   A hearing to finalize the sale is scheduled for Friday (Aug. 26) in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

   “I am excited about it,” Breen said. “It will be a wonderful thing for this community. It will be much better than being owned by a company located in another state. The hospital will be owned by local people.”

   Breen said the doctors “have a good plan for the future. We will be adding services and expanding existing services.

   “This will enhance the reputation of this hospital,” she continued. “I can assure everyone that we will make sure everything is run right.”

   The hospital was founded by Dr. Albert Abramson in the 1930s in a small whte frame building on Washington Street in downtown Marksville.

   After the war, Abramson was joined by his brother Pete who expanded the hospital. It was puchased by Humana in the 1970s and it moved to its present location in the 1980s where it was renamed Humana. After Humana received some unfavorable publicitiy on the CBS 60 minutes, the local hospital was renamed Avoyelles Hosptial.

   In the 1990s Humana formed a partnership with the non-profit Rapides Hospital, and eventually sold off Avoyelles and other rural hospitals. The company which currently owned Avoyelles came under financial strain because one of the other hospitals in Lafayette. The bankruptcy court is now allowing Avoyelles, which has always remained profitable, to be sold.