Tampa General Hospital agrees to purchase three CHS hospitals in Hernando and Citrus counties

With the purchase of three hospitals from Bravera Health, Tampa General is expanding its “geographic footprint” into Hernando and Citrus counties.

The agreement, estimated at $290 million, includes Bravera Health Brooksville, Bravera Health Spring Hill and Bravera Health Seven Rivers. The purchase, announced Tuesday, also includes clinics and outpatient services, according to Bravera’s parent company, Community Health Systems.

Both parties say the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close later this year.

The divestiture is among the potential transactions highlighted on CHS’ first-quarter 2023 earnings call in which the company reported a $51 million net loss on revenue of $3.1 billion.

The sale leaves Tennessee-based CHS with seven hospitals in Florida, but none in the greater Tampa Bay region. The publicly traded chain has shed more than 100 community hospitals since 2015, including the 2020 sale of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg to Orlando Health.

The three hospitals, which treated more than 300,000 patients in 2022, will add 372 beds to Tampa General’s health system.

“With this acquisition, TGH is not only expanding its geographic footprint to meet the needs of our state’s growing population, but TGH is also increasing access for Floridians to the world-class rare and complex specialized care we offer,” John Couris, TGH’s president and CEO, says in published statement.

The 120-bed Brooksville hospital provides emergency medicine, orthopedics, cardiology, cardiac catheterization, general surgery and outpatient rehab.

The 124-bed Spring Hill hospital offers women's services including labor and delivery and neonatology, emergency medicine, vascular and general surgery, wound care and plastic surgery.

Bravera Health Seven Rivers, a 128-bed facility, has a dedicated orthopedic bone and joint center, cardiology, urology, general surgery, robotic-assisted general, gynecologic and bariatric surgeries, and a freestanding emergency department in Citrus Hills.

The three hospitals were part of the Bayfront Health system but were required to rebrand under their own system after the sale to Orlando Health.

“Tampa General Hospital is a well-respected health care system with a demonstrated commitment to delivering quality care to the patients they serve across the communities they serve,” Linda Stockton, CEO of Bravera Health Seven Rivers, says in published statement.

“Our tradition of delivering medical services close to home will continue thanks to the dedication and skill of our medical staff and employees.”

Tampa General is a private, nonprofit hospital affiliated with the Florida Health Science Center. Its primary campus is a 1,040-bed Level 1 trauma center on Tampa’s Davis Islands near downtown. Others major properties include the 130,000-square-foot TGH Brandon Healthplex outpatient facility and the recently opened TGH Rehabilitation Hospital near downtown.

TGH also leases 25,000 square feet of space in the University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute, a 13-story high rise in downtown’s Water Street Tampa development. Tampa General is the primary teaching hospital for the USF medical school.

The TGH system also includes primary and specialty care through multiple Tampa General Medical Group and TGH Urgent Care locations.

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