Community Health Systems Acquires Porter Health in Indiana

Community Health Systems, Inc., announced that a subsidiary has acquired the assets of Porter Health, an expansive system providing services to patients across Northwest Indiana.

Hospital campuses are located in Valparaiso and Portage, Indiana, with a total of 338 licensed beds, and outpatient medical campuses in Chesterton, Demotte, and Hebron.

The services provided by Porter Health are wide-ranging and include rehabilitation, oncology and occupational medicine. Valparaiso, the county seat of Porter County, is located 40 miles southeast of Chicago, Illinois and 40 miles west of South Bend, Indiana. A 225-bed replacement facility for the Valparaiso hospital will be constructed by no later than April 2011. The transaction was originally structured as an acquisition by Triad Hospitals, Inc., but transferred to Community Health Systems to facilitate a timely closing following the March 19th announcement that Triad Hospitals, Inc. and Community Health Systems, Inc. would merge. Porter Health is Community Health Systems, Inc.’s first acquisition in the State of Indiana.

“We are very excited to be joining the health team in the Porter County communities,” said Wayne T. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Community Health Systems, Inc. “The county has done a tremendous job of raising the level of health services in these communities to the present status and we feel honored to be in a position to be able to build upon that history and tradition. Stepping into the shoes of Triad Hospitals on this transaction has enabled us to better understand and be in a position to fulfill the commitments made to the residents of Porter County. We look forward to working with the dedicated community leaders and health care teams at each of these facilities.”