Community Health’s $3.9 billion purchase in 2014 of HMA merged 206 hospitals.
“It is taking longer than expected to achieve operational improvements in some of the former HMA markets,” Wayne T. Smith, Community Health’s chairman and chief executive, told The Wall Street Journal. “However, we continue to see opportunities in these markets and remain convinced that performance will improve over time.”
“In addition, Community Health said, the fourth quarter was hurt by weakness in patient volume in comparison with the strong year-ago quarter, which benefited from higher emergency-room visits and admissions attributed to respiratory illness and the flu,” the paper said.
