Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has conditionally approved the sale of Akron’s largest health system, Summa Health, to the for-profit Health Assurance Transformation Corporation.
Yost said in a news release Wednesday afternoon that his office would approve the sale of the nonprofit hospital, under the condition the venture capitol-backed buyer, HATCo, agreed to 10 additional commitments.
Yost's office said the conditions are designed to ensure that the sale benefits the community, maintains the hospital system's charitable mission and protects patient care—while also giving the attorney general the power to monitor and enforce these rules for 10 years after the sale.
Yost also required HATCo to agree to an extra $15 million in cash to reflect the fair market value of Summa Health, and contribute $15 million in company stock as part of the purchase price—bringing the deal total to $500 million in cash and $15 million in stock.
The $15 million in stock will be held by the community foundation for three years and cannot be sold without approval from the attorney general.
Yost also required that the community foundation that receives the proceeds from the sale must have the same charitable mission as Summa Health. The majority of the foundation's board members must not be connected to Summa Health or HATCo, and must go through a training program.
Summa is Not For Sale, a coalition of public interest groups in Summit County opposed to the system’s sale to HATCo, released a statement saying they were pleased with Yost’s additions.
"Yost made a number of important improvements to this deal," said coalition member Jeff Barge. "We're pleased that the Akron community will continue to hold an equity position in Summa Health for at least the next three years, even if it is just 3%. That means the new community foundation will have access to all financial reports to ensure that all conditions of the sale are met and public health is being improved."
Barge said the coalition still believes the true value of Summa Health is above $800 million, as determined by estimates reported as of a few years ago.
With the sale now approved, Summa and HATCo must conduct a public hearing within 45 days to field comments on the proposed use of the sale’s proceeds.
