St. Mary’s Hospital Selects Prime Healthcare Services to Purchase Hospital

Passaic, New Jersey (November 29, 2012) St. Mary's Hospital and Prime Healthcare Services announced today they reached an agreement for Prime Healthcare to purchase the Passaic-based hospital.

Prime Healthcare will make a significant investment in order to financially stabilize St. Mary's Hospital and allow St. Mary's to continue its mission to serve the people of Passaic and the surrounding communities. The purchase must be approved by New Jersey's Department of Health as well as the state's Attorney General.

"Passaic residents deserve exceptional patient care, and Prime Healthcare is committed to delivering high-quality health care at St. Mary's, while preserving the hospital's charity care initiatives," said Prem Reddy, M.D., FACC, FCCP, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime Healthcare Services. "We look forward to working with St. Mary's as we seek approval from the state. Prime Healthcare's motto is saving hospitals, saving jobs and saving lives, and we plan to continue that at St. Mary's and help it become one of the best hospitals in the state and the country."

Sr. Barbara Conroy, S.C., Chair of the St. Mary's Hospital Board of Trustees applauded the transaction. "We are pleased that we will be able to transition St. Mary's to Prime, an organization that we believe will be focused on continuing the mission of the hospital by investing in the programs and services that are so important to the communities we serve."

Edward J. Condit, St. Mary's President & CEO, added, "Today's announcement is an important win for our patients, physicians, and staff who will now have the opportunity to become part of a renowned national health system."

Prime Healthcare, an award winning health system, was nationally recognized in 2012 as one of the "15 Top Health Systems in the Nation" by Thomson Reuters based on quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction. It was also recognized as a top health system in 2009. Five Prime Healthcare hospitals were also ranked among the "100 Top Hospitals in the Nation" in 2012.

Recently, The Joint Commission, the leading Medicare accreditation organization in the country, announced that eight Prime Healthcare hospitals earned national recognition as "Top Performer on Key Quality Measures" (Top 18 percent).

Dr. Raj Kaushik, MD, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at St. Mary's Hospital said, "We are excited about becoming part of Prime Healthcare, especially because of what it will mean for the St. Mary's Heart Center. We believe that being part of Prime will put St. Mary's Hospital on a successful path forward, preserving its role as the premier healthcare provider to Passaic and the surrounding communities."

Virginia Treacy, JNESO's executive director, stated, "We represent hundreds of employees at St. Mary's Hospital and believe this transaction is the only way forward for our members and for the communities St. Mary's Hospital serves. We understand that Prime Healthcare is committed to ensuring the continuation of high-quality healthcare at the hospital. We expect that they will work with us to make certain that the employees have a critical role going forward to meet that objective."

Assemblyman Gary Schaer added, "The purchase of St. Mary's Hospital by Prime Healthcare will ensure that the hospital remains open, that patients throughout the region will continue to be served by an institution committed to quality and guarantee the existence of an acute care facility in the City of Passaic for the future."