By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Beaufort Regional Health System received four proposals from health-care providers interested in possibly merging with BRHS, according to BRHS spokeswoman Pam Shadle.
The proposals were submitted by Greenville-based University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina, Community Health Systems Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn., Brim Healthcare of Brentwood, Tenn., and LHP Hospital Group of Plano, Texas.
The proposals are in response to the request for proposals that BRHS sent to July 21 to 14 potential partners. Under the terms stated in the document, those who received the RFP were given 45 days from its date of issue to respond to it.
That 45-day window closed Saturday, according to an e-mail Shadle sent to the Washington Daily News on Tuesday evening.
The other entities that received copies of the request for proposal but did not submit proposals by Saturday’s deadline are Health Management Associates of Naples, Fla.; Capella Healthcare of Franklin, Tenn.; Universal Health Services Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa.; Sunlink Health Systems Inc. of Atlanta; Ameris Health Systems of Nashville, Tenn.; Jackson Hospital Affiliates of Alpharetta, Ga.; Progressive Acute Care, LLC, of Mandeville, La.; Nueterra Healthcare of Leawood, Kan.; LifePoint Hospitals Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn.; and RegionalCare Hospital Partners of Brentwood, Tenn.
The request for proposal asked for two proposals. The first asked prospective partners to respond to a BRHS request for a 20-year lease that would begin “on or about” Dec. 1, 2010. The second asked potential partners “to be creative. If you see an alternative way to accomplish our objectives in lieu of the preferred leasing structure, we invite you to propose your best ideas without restrictions.”
The RFP included data on the BRHS operations, a list of requirements for prospective partners and about five pages of questions to determine how the prospective partner would address the needs of the local health system.
The RFP identified more than $21.1 million in construction needs, an amount slightly higher than listed in a draft version of the document.
In addition to future construction needs, the RFP asked any suitor to meet nine basic requirements. Those include providing quality care to all people in the community (regardless of their ability to pay), staying current with advancing medical technology, seeking to aggressively improve BRHS’s market share and providing a good work environment for health-system employees.
The RFP stated that “an important consideration” in evaluating responses from potential partners will be their “commitment to understand and effectively address these matters.”
Additional details were not immediately available Tuesday evening.
Staff Writer Betty Mitchell Gray contributed to this article.