The Yadkin County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously last night to sell Hoots Hospital to the company that has been managing it for more than a year.
HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc. of Kansas City has run Hoots since April 2009. It will pay Yadkin County $1.6 million for the hospital. In exchange, HMC agrees to start building a new hospital within three years and offer jobs to all current employees. HMC officials said the new hospital will likely have fewer beds than Hoots, which has 22.
The selling price doesn't include the building, though -- until HMC builds a new hospital, it will lease the old one from Yadkin County at $1 a square foot.
The closing date is April 30.
County officials began the process of selling the hospital last fall, hiring Raleigh attorney John Crill to represent them. Crill led the board through the hospital contract last night.
Though Crill advertised and contacted 16 health-care companies, HMC put in the only bid. Commissioners have seemed content with the offer and excited about a new hospital.
"This is excellent for economic development," Chad Wagoner, the board's chairman said. "A company will want to locate in a place that has that much growth."
HMC has said it would spend from $12 million to $15 million on a new hospital. "That's not a tiny investment," Crill said.
There are details yet to be ironed out. The county tax office and HMC disagree on the size of the hospital. Crill said the tax office estimates the hospital's size at around 86,000-square-feet, and hospital officials say it's around 61,000. That would make a difference of $25,000 in rent a year.
lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com
727-7302
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