Well-guarded negotiations suddenly became public last Wednesday with the announcement that the city of Hillsboro was selling the assets of Hillsboro Community Medical Center to HMC/CAH Consolidated Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hospital Management Consulting, based in Kansas City, Mo. HMC/CAH was formed specifically for the purpose of purchasing rural hospitals and then replacing the outdated hospitals with new, state-of-the-art facilities.
With the initial flush of surprise past, it?s tempting to adopt a more cautious ?If it seems too good to be true, it probably is? approach to the announcement. We have no reason not to believe that HMC/CAH will hold true to its commitment to operate a top-notch critical access hospital committed to meeting community needs?and make a profit doing it. It?s a young company, but city and hospital officials are confident they have done due diligence during the courting process.
If reality follows the plan, Hillsboro is indeed fortunate to be in this remarkable position for its health-care future. We will be cheering…and watching. ?DR
