GA hospital sale facing FTC scrutiny

The planned sale of an Atlanta-area hospital has been postponed until the end of 2006, as hospital administrators work to provide the Federal Trade Commission with the more than 10 years of physician and patient utilization data the agency has requested. While the proposed sale of 143-bed Newnan Hospital to Piedmont Healthcare has gotten approval from the state's attorney general, the FTC has expressed concern about the deal, given that Newnan is the only hospital in Coweta County. Piedmont Healthcare, an Atlanta-based integrated delivery system, currently enjoys a 10 percent share of the metro's healthcare business, according to an article in the Atlanta Constitution. Adding Newnan would give Piedmont an additional 1 percent, hospital administrators said. If the deal moves ahead, Piedmont would own the only hospitals in Coweta and Fayette counties.

To get more information on the proposed sale:
- read this piece in the Atlanta Constitution

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