ASC Transactions & Valuation Issues

A proposed eye center in Maryland, which includes an ambulatory surgery center, was approved for a $3.5 million bond as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to a report in The Herald-Mail.

Standard & Poor's reaffirmed Honolulu-based Queen's Health System's A+ long-term bond rating on around $365 million of outstanding debt for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, according to a report in the Pacific Business News (Honolulu).

Boston-based non-profit Caritas Christi Health Care agreed to be acquired by New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management. The deal is awaiting approval from the Massachusetts Supreme Court and Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston.

The five states with the most surgery centers represented 38.4 percent of the total surgery center market in 2009. Here are the top five states and their share of the ASC market, according to SDI Health. For a list of…

Vanguard Health System has agreed to place $500 million of privately held stock in escrow to make sure it invests the capital in renovations to Detroit Medical Center's hospitals, according to a report in The Detroit News.

Texas Health Resources, the largest healthcare system in North Texas in terms of patients served, and LHP Hospital Group, have formed a joint venture to acquire 241-bed Wilson N. Jones Medical Center in Sherman, Texas, according to an LHP release.

Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is partnering with Nashville, Tenn.-based Symbion Healthcare, according to a report by KPVI News Idaho Falls.

As capital markets begin to open up and healthcare reform starts to take shape, momentum for hospital acquisition activity is building, although the buyers and sellers may have different characteristics this time around.

Newton, Mass.-based HRPT Properties Trust of Massachusetts, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, has purchased Clear Creek Surgery Center in Wheat Ridge, Colo., for $4.45 million, according to a report in the Denver Business Journal.

Saint Joseph's Health System and Piedmont Healthcare, both based in Atlanta, have signed a letter of intent to enter exclusive negotiations to create a joint operating company that combine certain assets of both SJHS and PHC, including Saint Joseph’s Hospital…