Community Health Systems, Inc. has some competition in the race to become the next lessee of Midwest Regional Medical Center.

On Friday, the deadline passed for Request for Proposals to be submitted and at the end of the day, the City of Midwest City received two.

Mercy and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center both turned in proposals, which means they are interested in leasing MRMC. The two proposals were submitted to Healthcare Strategy Group, the consultant firm out of Louisville, Ken. the city has hired to handle the hospital’s lease situation for legal, appraisal and consultant services.

St. Anthony’s and Integris Baptist did not submit proposals, although they were the two other metro hospital corporations invited by the city to do so.

Now, the Midwest City Memorial Hospital Authority, the organization charged with the hospital’s lease operations, will meet Thursday, Jan. 16 in a special meeting to discuss the proposals with consultant firm representatives, who are flying in for the meeting.

Hospital Authority members are the same as city councilmembers: Mayor Jack Fry, Jerry Maynard, Dee Collins, Rick Dawkins, James Ray, Wendell Boucher and Jeff Moore.

Situation Recap

Currently, the lessee of Midwest Regional Medical Center is Health Management Associates, Inc. who began leasing the hospital in 1996 when the Authority decided after running the hospital for 34 years, to find a different, more qualified operator.

HMA paid $80 million for the hospital lease and had community support for many years, but last year, criticism by the public and staff grew to an all-time high. This resulted in the city taking action to demand HMA provide better quality healthcare for area residents.

At the same time, HMA’s financial problems began to attract outside attention, including CHS, who later announced that they would be acquiring HMA.

According to the Authority’s contract with HMA, if a new third party lessee  takes over MRMC, the city would have the "Right to First Refusal." This means that the Authority could find a different hospital lessee, if desired, but if not, the new lessee would take over the remainder of the lease.

If the Authority does not negotiate a lease with Mercy or OU health Sciences Center, CHS will take on hospital operations until the end of the lease, which goes through May 2048.