Prime Healthcare Buys Valley Medical Center

The Encino campus of Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center has been sold to Prime Healthcare Services of Victorville for an undisclosed price. Both the Encino and Tarzana campuses of Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center have been up for sale since early 2004. Tenet continues talks with HCP Inc., the real estate investment trust that owns the Tarzana campus building and property,and a potential buyer. The parties are in the final stages of negotiating a binding agreement and performing related due diligence, according to Tenet Healthcare Corp. With the sale of Encino, Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center will no longer operate as one entity. A Tenet spokesman said that he didn’t know whether the sale of Encino would result in layoffs or what impact the sale would have on the services and resources shared between Encino and Tarzana. In related news, Tenet also announced today that Prime Healthcare has entered into definitive agreements to acquire two additional Tenet hospitals in California: 167-bed Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center and 64-bed San Dimas Community Hospital. Prime Healthcare operates 10 acute care hospitals, including Encino, and has more than 6,000 employees in Southern California. The company has agreed to continue operating its three newest facilities as acute care hospitals, maintain their emergency departments and offer employment to substantially all employees in good standing, according to Tenet.