Sale planned for Bayfront Health St. Petersburg

Community Health Systems Inc. has a deal to sell Bayfront Health St. Petersburg to a subsidiary of Orlando Health.

Financial terms were not disclosed in a news release announcing the deal.

Orlando Health will assume responsibility for the long-term lease and operations of the hospital. The lease transfer is subject to the consent of the St. Petersburg City Council.

Bayfront Health, at 701 6th St. S., is the largest hospital in St. Petersburg, with 480 beds. It is a more than 100-year-old institution that historically provided quality care for the poor. The hospital was sold to Health Management Associates in 2013. A year later, Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH), based in Franklin, Tennessee and at one time the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States, bought HMA. However, Community Health has sold many of the HMA hospitals it acquired. Now Bayfront joins the list.

Orlando Health is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $5.6 billion of assets under management. The system spans nine Florida counties with nearly 450 locations that include 13 wholly-owned or affiliated hospitals and emergency departments; rehabilitation services, cancer centers, heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, more than 300 physician offices for adults and pediatrics and 11 urgent care centers.

The sale is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions, Community Health said.