William Fulkerson, Duke University Health System executive vice president, spoke on Tuesday's BizTalk about Duke’s proposal for New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Durham-based Duke Health was one of six health systems that submitted pitches to either buy NHRMC or partner with the county-owned hospital.

"We think we are alike organizations with the same kind of commitment to our patients," Fulkerson said. "And we believe we have an opportunity to partner to deliver even greater care in the coastal area of North Carolina and South Carolina. And so that really makes us excited about partnering with the kind of quality-focused organization that New Hanover is today."

Duke Health, which has said it is open to discussing different partnership models, said that in the case of a purchase it proposed to either pay $500 million and let New Hanover County keep NHRMC's net cash -- which was estimated at $451 million in September before the COVID-19 pandemic -- as well as fund the hospital's $1.9 billion 12-year capital plan. Or, alternatively, it proposed an acquisition offer of $1.35-$1.4 billion for an all-cash closing, combined with spending at least $400 million on capital projects for the five years after deal closes.

"Both organizations have due diligence to do in this process, especially when you try to assess the impact of the COVID crisis on both institutions," Fulkerson said. "So, those are good faith offers, subject to both organizations doing some serious due diligence down the road."

Read Duke Health’s proposal here.

Last week the Partnership Advisory Group voted unanimously to focus on Duke Health, Atrium Health and Novant Health among the six health systems that submitted proposals. On Monday, NHRMC trustees also voted unanimously to back those picks for futhur talks. Both meetings took place largely in closed session without public discussion about why members liked those three proposals to focus on.

New Hanover County commissioners on Monday are slated will weigh in about the short list.

See the full conversation with Fulkerson here.

 

Ken Haynes, president of the greater Charlotte region for Atrium Health is scheduled to appear on BizTalk noon Thursday, which can be seen on the Business Journal's Facebook page.

Here is a recent interview with Shelbourn Stevens, president and COO of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, about Novant’s proposal.