Walgreens a competitor with Take Care purchase
The Walgreens Co., a Deerfield, Ill.-based company that operates 5,700 pharmacies nationwide, last month purchased Take Care Health Systems of Conshohocken, Pa. Take Care Health Systems will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Walgreens and will maintain its headquarters and management team in Conshohocken. The companies have aligned key priorities to focus on the national rollout of convenient care clinics, with more than 400 clinics planned by the end of 2008. The clinics, combined with the pharmacies, will form the core for the future rollout of a variety of patient-focused healthcare services, Walgreens officials said.
Consorta becomes equity owner of HealthTrust
Haumburg, Ill.-based Consorta Inc. and HealthTrust Purchasing Group, two large healthcare group purchasing organizations, recently finalized an agreement that establishes Consorta as the sixth equity owner in HealthTrust. The combination of the two companies creates the nation’s fourth largest group purchasing organization, with more than $13 billion in combined volume.
ProCure gets financing for proton therapy center
Financing has been secured for a $95 million proton therapy center in Oklahoma City, to be developed by ProCure Treatment Centers and its clinical partners, Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates. The 55,000-square-foot facility will include an advanced proton therapy system from Ion Beam Applications S.A. valued at $50 million. The Oklahoma ProCure Treatment Center, scheduled to open in 2009, will be the first owned by ProCure and the first-ever proton therapy cancer treatment center in the United States to be owned and operated by physicians.
Construction begins on Niswonger Hospital
Ground was broken last month for Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, Tenn. Scott Niswonger, a Greenville businessman and philanthropist, and his wife Nikki donated $10 million toward a new home for The Children’s Hospital at Johnson City Medical Center. The hospital is affiliated with the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. The nearly $36 million project consists of approximately 82,600 square feet of new construction and approximately 9,200 square feet of renovation to the existing hospital facilities.