Quest Diagnostics, a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in Madison, New Jersey, is purchasing PeaceHealth Labs for an undisclosed amount of money.
Confidential sources revealed to The Lund Report that a Quest facility is already being wired for 30 computers likely in Springfield, which will serve as its command center. The acquisition is expected to be announced next week. PeaceHealth did not respond to media requests by press time.
Currently PeaceHealth operates 12 testing laboratories across Alaska, Oregon and Washington, employs more than 800 employees and has 27 patient service centers. It’s unknown whether layoffs are anticipated, similar to what occurred when Quest acquired the clinical outreach laboratory business of UMass Memorial Medical Center three years ago.
The move comes after PeaceHealth ended its 2016 fiscal year with a $115.6 million deficit, but things were looking up in the first quarter of 2017, when assets climbed by $40.05 million, according to an in-depth Lund Report examination of the Vancouver, Washington-based nonprofit’s financial situation.
PeaceHealth, which operates four hospitals in Oregon, five in Washington state and one in Alaska, in addition to its network of clinics, labs and other medical operations, ended its 2016 fiscal year with $3.59 billion in assets, down slightly from $3.68 billion at the end of FY 2015.
The move comes after PeaceHealth ended its 2016 fiscal year with a $115.6 million deficit, but things were looking up in the first quarter of 2017, when assets climbed by $40.05 million, according to an in-depth Lund Report examination of the Vancouver, Washington-based nonprofit’s financial situation.
Executive Shake-Ups
PeaceHealth has lost a number of high-level executives in the past year, including Nancy Steiger who ran its Columbia Network region, which includes its Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver and St. John’s Medical Center in Longview. She’s been replaced by Sean Gregory, who has been president of the Health First Holmes Regional Medical Center in Florida.
At PeaceHealth, Gregory’s coming into a troubled organization, which has seen the departure of top executives and has been plagued with declining financial performance.
Financial disclosures show that PeaceHealth has paid $22.7 million in “separation benefits” over the past four years, while non-executive workers have said they’re being wrongly fired. Also millions of dollars have been spent on severance agreements, retained searches to fill executive roles, sign on bonuses for new executives and for consultants.
Beth O’Brien, chief operating officer, also left PeaceHealth in November, just weeks after three executives at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart, lost their jobs -- Louella Freeman, chief nursing officer; Wendy Apland, Oregon network chief financial officer; and Kris Kitz, network vice president of strategy, innovation and development.
PeaceHealth has about 6,000 employees in Lane County with hospitals in Springfield, Eugene, Cottage Grove and Florence.
A Look at Quest
Quest Diagnostics has collaborative agreements internationally with various hospitals and clinics. The company has approximately 44,000 employees, generates more than $7 billion in revenue and offers access to diagnostic testing services for cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and neurological disorders.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as LabCorp, had also been in contention to acquire PeaceHealth Labs. An American S&P 500 company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. It operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world, with a United States network of 36 primary laboratories.
Diane can be reached at [email protected].
