HMA Buyout Approved

Tennessee-based Community Health Systems is a step closer to its purchase of the Health Management Associates chain and its 23 hospitals in Florida. Shareholders nearly unanimously approved the buyout Wednesday in Naples, despite a small protest from members of a nurses union, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. When the $3.9 billion sale is complete, CHS will become the nation’s largest hospital chain, based on the number of facilities, and it will significantly boost its profile in Florida. The chain now owns just two hospitals in the state: Lake Wales Medical Center and North Okaloosa Medical Center.