HAVERHILL, Mass. - Essent Healthcare will complete its acquisition of Hale Hospital from the City of Haverhill today after city and Essent officials crafted a new approach to the transaction.

Haverhill Mayor James A. Rurak worked with Essent president and CEO W. Hudson Connery, Jr., and others well past midnight last night to save Hale Hospital just hours before reaching a city-imposed deadline that would have closed the community hospital tonight.

"The Hale Hospital has been saved and a public health crisis averted. Essent Healthcare is a true partner to this community. They were here for us when it counted. They will be running a hospital that will serve our entire region," Rurak said.

A new approach to the transaction became necessary yesterday after state lawmakers added unacceptable last-minute amendments to the Home Rule Petition needed to sell Essent the property adjacent to the hospital campus - the Glynn Memorial Nursing Home and a nearby maintenance shed.

Under the new approach outlined last night, Essent will purchase the acute care hospital.

The sale of the hospital facility has met all local and state requirements and will be concluded today, officials said. Essent is set to take ownership of Hale Hospital - and management of its more than 300 employees - at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

In the meantime, according to Mayor Rurak, the City will continue its efforts to insure health care services are provided for the community through the sale of the adjacent property using Massachusetts General Laws Section 30(B). This is the same statutory process followed by the City for the sale of Hale Hospital. The city believes this additional property is necessary to build the enhanced campus that will make the hospital stable and prosperous.

"Essent's vision for the development of a hospital campus is identical to the City's master plan, which we initially developed over three years ago," said Mayor Rurak. "Essent has agreed to work with the winning bidder to insure the orderly development of health care services consistent with the City's recently enacted zoning requirements for this site.

Essent and others will be given an opportunity to bid on this adjacent property that is now zoned for commercial and medical office space. Should another party win the bid for this property, Essent will continue to operate Hale Hospital. If Essent is the winning bidder, the company will proceed with its plan to build a 60,000-square-foot medical office building here to enhance the hospital's campus.

The new approach hammered out last night requires approval of the Haverhill City Council. City Council president William C. Pike has called an emergency meeting of the Council for noon today. Approval of the plan is expected, he said.

"Essent is proud to work shoulder to shoulder with the City of Haverhill to make this deal work and to keep Hale Hospital open," Connery said.

"We are thankful for the extraordinary efforts by many civic-minded community and business leaders in Haverhill and in Massachusetts who helped make today a success. We especially appreciate the efforts of Governor Swift's office, Senator Jajuga and Representative Dempsey to allow Hale Hospital to survive."

Hale Hospital is the last municipally-owned hospital in Massachusetts. Founded in 1887, the hospital maintains 108 acute care beds and 21 transitional care beds. Last year the hospital's emergency room had more than 24,000 visits, making the hospital a critical provider of health care in a rapidly growing region of the state.

"There is no doubt that this is an essential hospital," Connery said. "This was confirmed by the careful scrutiny of Dr. Howard Koh and the staff of the Department of Public Health.

"It provides a fundamentally important service to the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire. The hospital has a great team of physicians, nurses and staff, and a tremendous potential for growth. We are delighted to be joining and investing in this community."

A signal of the importance of Hale Hospital to the Massachusetts health care community was given earlier this week from the hospital's largest managed care contractors. These companies signed new agreements with Essent that included improved payment rates for services provided by the hospital for their customers - another requirement for completing the deal.

"Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts responded to the need for improved rates during an intense series of healthy, timely and forthright negotiations," Connery said.

"These plans made a difference when it counted. Knowing that the very existence of Hale Hospital was at stake, Blue Cross, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts Health Plans have demonstrated their commitment to ensuring access to health care in the Merrimack Valley."

The hospital's permanent chief executive officer will be announced soon. Carl Zack, who has served as the hospital's CEO since November 2000, has agreed to continue in that position until September 28, 2001.

Hale Hospital is the second hospital purchased by Essent Healthcare. Essent also owns Crossroads Regional Hospital in Wentzville, Mo. The company is also seeking to acquire Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Conn. That purchase, approved by the hospital's board of trustees, is undergoing the state's regulatory review process now.

Essent Healthcare
Essent Healthcare is a Nashville-based hospital company led by Connery, the former chief operating officer for HealthTrust, which owned and managed more than 110 hospitals, 11 of which were named among the Top 100 Hospitals in the United States.  Essent Healthcare was launched in 1999 with the mission of acquiring hospitals that are essential to growing communities in rural and suburban markets and providing them with the financial resources and the expertise they need to grow.

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