BOSTON – Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley will recommend approval of the Caritas Christi Health Care sale to N.Y.-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
Caritas, a community-based hospital network, would change from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization, which would require the attorney general’s approval.
The recommendation hinges on several conditions, including continued state monitoring of Caritas finances, a guarantee not to close Caritas’ six Catholic hospitals for five years (as long as certain financial performance margins are met), the buyer must fully-fund employee retirement plans, and maintain the in-patient psychiatric and detoxification beds.
The conditions are designed to protect Caritas’ 12,000 jobs and employee pensions, The Boston Globe reported, noting the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and state Public Health Council still need to sign off on the deal.
The Caritas hospital chain includes: Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, Carney Hospital in Dorchester, Norwood Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton and Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, said The Boston Globe.
And asset purchase agreement between Woonsocket-based Landmark Medical Center and Caritas, which was proposed over the summer, is still pending approval by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein, according to a spokesman for Landmark.
