ARH to acquire Paintsville hospital

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

PAINTSVILLE — Appalachian Regional Healthcare announced Thursday that it signed an agreement to acquire Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center in Paintsville within the next 70 days.

ARH will assume day-to-day operations on Dec. 1, the release said.

ARH President and CEO Hollie Harris Phillips said that ARH has cared for central Appalachia for 65 years and continues to grow to meet the community’s unique needs.

“We look forward to welcoming Paul B. Hall into our system of care and working together to expand health care services for southeastern Kentucky,” Phillips said.

Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center CEO Deborah Trimble said the hospital becoming apart of ARH is a “natural fit.”

“We are excited to work more collaboratively with ARH hospitals in the region and to continue our tradition of providing quality care to our Appalachian community,” Trimble said.

ARH is a non-profit health system operating hospitals, as well as multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores and retail pharmacies. ARH employs around 6,000 people with an annual payroll and benefits of $330 million generated into our local economies. ARH also has a network of more than 600 active and courtesy medical staff members, the release said.

Paul B. Hall is a 72-bed acute-care hospital, with members of the medical staff representing many specialties, including surgery, neurology, internal medicine, ophthalmology, cardiology, radiology, urology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, oncology. The hospital has been awarded Joint Commission Top Performer distinction four years in a row. Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center is directly or indirectly owned by a partnership that includes physician owners, including certain members of the hospital’s medical staff, the release said.