Novant in Talks to Buy Cardiology Practice

By LEX ALEXANDER

GREENSBORO — The owner of Forsyth Medical Center is in talks with Greensboro Cardiology Associates about buying the practice, the practice’s administrator said Tuesday.

“We’re really just in the discussion phase,” practice administrator Deborah Caldwell said of talks with Novant Health. She said she did not know when talks began or which party approached the other, nor did she know of any timeline for a decision.

Novant spokeswoman Freda Springs would neither confirm nor deny the talks and she said the company does not comment on any potential business deals.

Caldwell stressed that patient care and the practice’s affiliation with Moses Cone Health System would not be affected by any possible sale.

“In the event we do become affiliated with Novant, the status of how we care for our patients and our service to the Greensboro area and the surrounding community will not change,” she said.

The practice includes five physicians.

Novant Health, based in Winston-Salem, is a charitable nonprofit that employed 22,000 people at the end of 2007. It reported revenues of $2.2 billion and operating income of $80 million for 2007.

Its holdings include Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, Thomasville Medical Center and seven other hospitals. It also owns outpatient surgical centers, rehabilitation centers, and primary- care and specialty practices, according to its Web site. Those holdings include two PrimeCare urgent-care and occupational-health centers in Greensboro.

On March 31, Novant paid $300 million for a 27 percent share of Health Management Associates, which owns seven hospitals in the Carolinas.

Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lex.alexander@news- record.com

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