The Memorial Health Board of Directors & the Chatham County Hospital Authority announced that they have signed a Letter of Intent for HCA to acquire Memorial’s assets in a deal valued at $710 million, and an agreement to continue its core services to area residents.

“Earlier this year, the Memorial Board and the CCHA commissioned a search for a strategic partner to assume and stabilize the hospital’s operations. A joint committee of the Memorial Board and CCHA conducted an extensive review of potential partners who would be committed to investing in the future of Memorial Health,” said J. Curtis Lewis, III, chairman of the Memorial Health Board. “Memorial is an important community asset that provides critical healthcare access to 35 counties in Georgia and South Carolina, and our Board is excited to find a partner that will complement and support our mission.”

“We believe that HCA’s South Atlantic division is committed, as we are, to ensuring our caregivers receive the support needed to continue delivering world-class care at our elite teaching hospital,” said Frank Rossiter Jr., M.D., chairman of the Chatham County Hospital Authority. “They have demonstrated this not just with words, but in caring for patients in the communities they serve across Georgia and throughout the southeast. HCA has committed to sustaining key Memorial Health services, including pediatrics, neonatal care/level 3 nursery, Level 1 trauma, and the residency education training program.”

Memorial Health and HCA’s South Atlantic division will continue exclusive discussions with the intent to execute a definitive agreement before the end of 2017. Any resulting transactions would need to meet certain regulatory requirements and approvals before they may be completed.