Tenet Healthcare leaves Philadelphia with the sale of Hahnemann, St. Chris

Tenet Healthcare Corp. completed the sale of Hahnemann University Hospital and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children to American Academic Health System L.L.C., an affiliate of a California investment firm, Paladin Healthcare, the groups said Thursday.

Tenet said it received $170 million from the sale, pretax, comprised of $152.5 million in cash at closing note for $17.5 million. In the 12 months ended June 30, Hahnemann, St. Chris and related operations had $790 million in net revenue and an operating loss of $15 million, Tenet said. The deal was announced Sept. 1.

"We are thrilled and proud to be the new owners of these venerable Philadelphia hospitals and the outstanding clinical and academic programs for which they are recognized," Joel Freedman, American Academic's founder and chief executive said in a news release.

As part of the deal, American Academic and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital L.L.C. formed a partnership to buy four medical office buildings on the Hahnemann campus and the parking facilities at St. Chris.

Barry A. Wolfman, American Academics's president, said in an interview that the first step would be to listen to employees, physicians, and the community "about how we might be able to proceed to enhance our position and to fit into the marketplace."

Another early effort will focus on infrastructure. "As you can imagine, the infrastructure needs are pretty substantial," Wolfman said, naming boilers, chillers, escalators, elevators, and roofs as examples. Wolfman ran Tenet's Philadelphia-area operations in the early 2000s.

The Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals, which represents 850 nurses at Hahnemann and 520 nurses at St Chris, said nurses were looking forward to a better relationship with their new employer. Under Tenet's tenure, nurses experienced unsafe staffing and dangerous working conditions, the union said.