Abington Memorial buys Warminster Hospital

Abington Memorial Hospital has purchased nearby Warminster Hospital in Bucks County from a newly formed Philadelphia company, Solis Healthcare, for an undisclosed price.

Abington Memorial Hospital said, in a statement, it will change Warminster into an outpatient services hospital, but will close inpatient services and Warminster's emergency department within 30 days.

Abington said it will transform the Warminster facility into a "health-care campus with state-of-the-art ambulatory services." Current outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, radiology and laboratory services, will still be offered along with many new outpatient services, the Montgomery County hospital said.

However, Warminster Hospital's inpatient services and its emergency department will be closed and consolidated at Abington hospital within 30 days. "This closure will affect the number of employees needed to serve the campus," the new owner said.

It is the second time in three months that the 153-bed Warminster Hospital, with 350 employees, was sold.

Financial terms of the purchase, which closed at 12:01 a.m. today, were not disclosed. In the transaction, Abington Memorial hired all Warminster employees and assumed ownership and clinical operations of the facility.

In July, Solis Healthcare L.L.C., bought Warminster Hospital, along with 137-bed Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, for $25.5 million from Tenet Healthcare Corp.

After the purchase by Solis, Abington Memorial officials, who had long expressed an interest in Warminster, approached Solis about buying Warminster, representatives from Abington and Solis Healthcare said in a statement.

The transition allows Solis to focus on expanding its services elsewhere in the region and specifically at Roxborough Hospital, where the company is currently investing in new clinical technology and programs, the joint statement said.

Solis Healthcare, a new corporation created last spring to buy the the two hospitals, is led by Robert G. Souaid, who has owned health-care properties in the Southeastern U.S. for the past dozen years, and Jack Donnelly, CEO of Roxborough Memorial for the past 17 years.