Tenet Acquires Coastal Carolina Medical Center

DALLAS.– Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) announced today that a subsidiary has completed the purchase of Coastal Carolina Medical Center, a 41-bed acute care hospital located in Hardeeville, S.C., from LifePoint Hospitals Inc. (NYSE: LPNT). The approximate purchase price is $35 million and is subject to normal post-closing adjustments.

Coastal Carolina Medical Center serves a vibrant market with a growing population of younger retirees in Jasper County. The area is poised to add more than 100,000 residents in the next 20 years, with much of the growth projected around Hardeeville. The hospital is located 27 miles from Tenet’s Hilton Head Regional Medical Center. The company intends to continue operating Coastal Carolina Medical Center as a full-service community hospital and will seek to enhance services to meet the community’s needs, in coordination with the nearby Hilton Head facility.

“Tenet’s growth strategy includes leveraging the strength of our current hospitals to grow in key markets where we already operate,” said Trevor Fetter, Tenet’s president and chief executive officer. “This acquisition – our first in five years of an acute care general hospital –fits that strategy perfectly. We have served the coastal areas of South Carolina for many years both at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center and at East Cooper Regional Medical Center near Charleston – two of our most successful hospitals. We strongly believe that Coastal Carolina Medical Center will benefit significantly by partnering with Hilton Head and Tenet to serve one of the nation’s most dynamic, rapidly growing communities.”

Coastal Carolina Medical Center will become a part of Tenet’s Southern States Region and will maintain a local management team. The hospital’s chief executive officer will report to Elizabeth Lamkin, the chief executive officer at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center. Coastal Carolina Medical Center will continue to operate under its current name. This strategy builds on the hospital’s existing brand equity and will streamline Tenet’s operational efficiency. Through this integrated approach Tenet can provide comprehensive, cost-effective health care services to the Lowcountry, as that area is known.

Stephen L. Newman, M.D., Tenet’s chief operating officer, said, “We are strategically applying our capital to build upon our current market success in a highly desirable area, and will grow Coastal Carolina’s services by linking it with our other nearby operations. Because we know the Lowcountry area of South Carolina so well and have served it for many years, we will hit the ground running with strategies to expand and enhance services at Coastal Carolina Medical Center.”

Coastal Carolina Medical Center opened in November 2004. The hospital was acquired by LifePoint in April 2005. It was the only hospital that LifePoint operated in South Carolina.