Howard County General Hospital, one of a shrinking number of independent hospitals, will consider offers to buy it or to form some other type of "partnership" with it, the institution's president said yesterday.
"About three-quarters of the hospitals in Maryland have substantial collaborative relationships," said Calvin Pierson, president of the Maryland Hospital Association.
It is also in an attractive and growing market, making it a tempting target for other health systems.
Howard County General has been approached 16 times in the past three years to sell, merge or form an affiliation, said Victor A. Broccolino, president and chief executive officer.
"The board felt now is the time we should go to the market and find out how the market values us," he said.
Broccolino said the board would consider a variety of arrangements over the next several months and would decide which, if any, was best for the community, the medical staff and the employees.
"It's not a given that there's going to be any kind of partnership," he said.
"When we sift through all the expressions of interest, we may not find one that meets our needs."
If it did reject all offers, it would be bucking a trend.
Not only are hospitals affiliating, merging with and acquiring each other, but they also are building "integrated health systems" involving physician groups, nursing homes, pharmacies, home health agencies and other health businesses.
"Hospitals want to make sure they're not left out in this merger mania," said Gerard Anderson, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Hospital Finance and Management.
Hospitals merge or seek other affiliations, Pierson said, as "one of the best ways to reduce cost and reduce fragmentation of services."
"Part of it is reaction to what managed care companies want," he said. "They want fewer contracts with organizations that are broader and more regionally based."
As the only hospital in Howard County, it would not have trouble winning managed care contracts, Anderson said.
"If it really has any sort of natural monopoly, it probably would not need [a merger], but with so many hospitals in Baltimore and Washington, it may not feel it has a natural monopoly."
Beyond the problems of managed care contracting, other Maryland hospital mergers in the past year -- Liberty Medical Center into Bon Secours Baltimore Health System and Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital into North Arundel Health System have included financially troubled hospitals.
