Phoebe Putney Health System, Inc. (Phoebe Putney) today announced it and the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County have reached a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to address issues stemming from the acquisition of Palmyra Park Hospital, now known as Phoebe north campus. Under the terms of the settlement, the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County will retain ownership of, and Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital will continue to operate, the Phoebe north campus.
As part of the settlement, Phoebe Putney and the Authority have agreed that for the next ten years they will not acquire, without prior notification to the FTC, a General Acute Care Hospital, an inpatient or outpatient clinic or facility or a physician group practice of five or more physicians within the six-county region the FTC asserted was relevant (Dougherty, Terrell, Lee, Worth, Baker and Mitchell Counties in Georgia).
Phoebe Putney and the Authority have also agreed that, for the next five years, they will not file any objections with the Georgia Department of Community Health to the issuance of a Certificate of Need for a new general acute care hospital in the same six-county region. Phoebe and the Authority are not restricted from objecting to CON applications for other projects but have agreed to provide a copy of any such objection to the FTC. Lastly, Phoebe Putney agreed to provide annual reports of its compliance with these provisions, for the next ten years.