Quorum Health strikes deal to become nonprofit

Quorum Health has agreed to convert from a for-profit to a nonprofit system through a definitive transaction with nonprofit Healthside Partners, officials said. The deal would move Quorum’s 11 hospitals in nine states into nonprofit status and is intended to shore up finances and preserve care in rural communities (Becker’s; Healthcare Dive). Quorum, based in Brentwood, Tenn., has pursued years of restructuring — including bankruptcy-related restructuring and portfolio reductions after spinning off from Community Health Systems about a decade ago — and CEO Chris Harrison framed the nonprofit move as one of survival amid mounting operational and financial pressures (Becker’s). Under the agreement, Quorum plans to expand charity care programs and to invest more than $300 million in capital projects through 2029. Executives say the conversion will help the system access new sources of financial support and shift priorities away from profitability toward community health and stability for struggling hospitals (Becker’s; FierceHealthcare). The transaction is expected to close in the fall. The move comes against a broader backdrop of rising hospital bad debt and charity-care pressures nationally, which industry data show have increased year over year (Becker’s).