The much anticipated changeover of the Frankfort hospital from St. Vincent Health to Indiana University Health is now official after both the Clinton County Commissioners and Clinton County Council unanimously approved the acquisition agreement between the county and the two hospitals Wednesday morning.
“It’s a wonderful milestone, it’s part of the master lease agreement and now we can move forward,” said IU Health President Kelly Braverman.
The agreement was broken into three different segments. First, the council had to approve an additional unbudgeted appropriation of $2,294,779.89 which was the purchase price the county would acquire from St. Vincent ownership of certain assets used in connection with the operation of St. Vincent Frankfort Hospital.
Then, two acquisition agreements — one between the county and St. Vincent and the other between the county and IU Health — had to be approved. The county approved the first acquisition agreement to purchase the purchased assets from St. Vincent for $2,294,779.89 in accordance with the terms of the lease with St. Vincent.
The second acquisition agreement was for IU Health purchased those assets from the county for $2,161,371.89.
County Council President Alan Dunn said the $133,408 difference was due to the failure of a surge tank facility in the heating system that the county, St. Vincent and IU Health agreed to split three ways.
This agreement officially ends the 17-year agreement between Frankfort and St. Vincent. The two entities officially parted ways on at 11:59.59 on May 31, 2017.
Dunn was asked what the next step will be for the county and IU Health.
“The master lease agreement with Indiana University Health calls for us to jointly put together a master facility plan and discuss the long term future of the hospital,” said Dunn. “We are free now to really dive into these discussions and we’re excited to do that because that’s our ultimate objective is to have a vibrant and modern hospital for generations to come.”