Hospital Oversight

The Foundation is responsible for the oversight and monitoring of Portsmouth Regional Hospital in order to ensure that Seacoast citizens have access to quality medical care at a first-class facility and at competitive prices.  This has been an important part of the Foundation's mission since the Hospital was sold to HCA in 1983.

To exercise that oversight, the Foundation appoints a majority of the Portsmouth Regional Hospital Board of Trustees.  The Hospital Board meets regularly with the Hospital's medical staff and management to oversee the Hospital's performance, including its financial condition, quality of care, quality of facilities and technology, and compliance with HCA's commitments under the 1983 agreement to provide free care to the medically indigent and ensure competitive pricing for its services.  In addition, under the terms of the 1983 agreement, the Foundation has a right to repurchase the Hospital if HCA defaults on either the free care or competitive pricing covenants, or in the event of a change in ownership.

Recent Developments

During the summer of 2006, HCA announced that it was "going private" through a $33 billion leveraged buyout by a consortium of investors.  The Foundation is deeply concerned that this will not serve the best interests of the Hospital or the Seacoast community, and further believes that the 2006 transaction triggered its contractual right to repurchase the Hospital.  HCA, however, has refused to honor the Foundation's repurchase right, leaving the Foundation no other alternative but to seek relief in the courts.  

The Foundation is committed to pursuing a resolution of the litigation that is in the best interests of both the Hospital and the community.  In the meantime, the Foundation has negotiated an agreement with HCA to ensure that there will be no substantive changes in the management or operations of the Hospital until the lawsuit is resolved.  Further, we are maintaining an open channel of communication with the medical staff and the community in order to protect and preserve the high standard of medical care that has been the hallmark of Portsmouth Regional Hospital for the past two decades.

News Coverage

To read detailed news coverage of these developments, we encourage you to visit the archives of the Portsmouth Herald Web site. 

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