Local doctors set to buy Pardee Care Center

A group of local physicians and investors are set to buy the Pardee Care Center.

Pardee’s board of directors met in special session this morning and approved a contract with Hendersonville Physicians and Associates for the purchase of the Care Center.

The group offered $8.45 million for the 130-bed nursing and rehabilitation center on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College. The group also committed to $1 million in capital improvements.

Hendersonville Physicians and Associates includes Dr. Larry J. Russell, Dr. Amal Das, Dr. Steven Lackey, Dr. Gail Clary and Dr. Lateef Abumoussa. It also includes local investors, Ardent Health and Rehabilitation and Ohio-based Sprenger Retirement Centers.

Pardee took into account how the buyer would continue the center’s quality care, protect the employment of Care Center associates and work with community agencies such as Hospice and the Pavilion.

Care Center associates employed on the day of the close will continue receiving the same salary and seniority, Pardee CEO Kris Hoce said.

The sale is not final.

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners must approve the contract. Commissioners should consider it Wednesday.

A 10-day upset bid period will take place after commissioners sign off. The upset bid must top nearly $8.9 million.

Pardee’s board also asked Hoce to continue negotiations with Hendersonville Physicians and Associates over employee-to-patient ratios and the capital commitment.

Some Pardee board members wanted the contract to have more teeth so the hospital could be sure the $1 million in upgrades would be made at the Care Center.

Pardee’s board voted in October to sell the Care Center. The facility was projected to lose nearly $400,000 this year, but hospital officials say it would be more profitable if free from liability and regulatory issues that come with hospital ownership.

For more on this story, read Wednesday’s Times-News