University of Louisville ends talks to buy KentuckyOne assets, including Jewish Hospital

The University of Louisville announced Wednesday night it is ending discussions to acquire KentuckyOne Health's Louisville assets, including Jewish Hospital, ending months of talks between the two sides.

Difficulty finding a partner to help with the purchase was cited as a reason the talks were stopped. A university news release that said “U of L officials were not willing to put the university at financial risk by taking on the acquisition alone."

“We regret ending our talks with CHI (Catholic Health Initiatives), but we must do what is fiscally responsible for the University of Louisville,” U of L President Neeli Bendapudi said in the release. “Without a viable partner, we do not have the resources necessary to make the acquisition a reality.”

KentuckyOne and U of L will continue their professional partnership for now, including the Academic Affiliation Agreement that ensures undergraduate and graduate/resident medical education programs continue at Jewish Hospital and Frazier Rehab Institute.

Earlier:What to know about U of L's play to purchase Jewish Hospital

Background:U of L could soon take control of Jewish Hospital, CEO email suggests

If the programs cannot be continued at those facilities, CHI will assign those residencies to another facility requested by the university, according to U of L’s statement Wednesday.

University spokesman John Karman said the extension of KentuckyOne’s contracts with U of L for the medical residents’ positions as well as for various services performed by university-affiliated doctors is open-ended, without a firm termination date set.

He also said U of L is continuing to make progress on contingency plans that it has been working on since last year concerning the transition of its service lines from Jewish Hospital to other health care facilities. 

Jewish has been part of the broader Louisville community for over a century and provides important care to critically ill and uninsured patients. 

Jewish cares for 3,000 patients a month in its downtown emergency room, and performs 1,400 surgeries a month. The average daily inpatient census at Jewish is 250 patients. 

More than 1,000 employees work at the hospital. Jewish also serves as the only adult organ transplant center in the city, and all of the physicians who perform lung, kidney, liver, pancreas, heart and dual organ transplants at Jewish are employed by U of L. 

“KentuckyOne Health is disappointed that the university was not able to secure a financial partner,” Deborah Lee-Eddie, interim market CEO for KentuckyOne Health, said in a statement. “We will now continue our discussions with other interested organizations.”

Last year, several local physicians and KentuckyOne employees told the Courier Journal on the condition of anonymity that they feared Jewish could be shut down if a deal to sell it isn’t reached. 

U of L had emerged in recent months as a potential buyer, and a New York-based hedge fund called BlueMountain Capital Management has been in talks to buy various local KentuckyOne assets for well over a year, although those talks haven’t come to fruition so far. It’s unclear if what other potential buyers may have come forward.

The deadline to get a deal done with U of L was previously extended to this Friday, June 14. 

Documents obtained under the state's open records laws revealed growing frustration with U of L's struggles to come up with a workable plan to take over KentuckyOne’s local hospitals.

How the end of sale negotiations with the university will affect Jewish Hospital and its patients in the long term is uncertain, although both Lee-Eddie of KentuckyOne and Karman of U of L indicated there shouldn’t be any immediate impacts. 

Looking back:KentuckyOne leaders dismiss 'rumors' that Jewish Hospital is closing

In an announcement this week, Lee-Eddie said the extension of its academic affiliation agreement with the school should allow for uninterrupted care at Jewish while they work to implement a transition plan. 

“This partnership change with UofL will likely impact the care provided at Jewish Hospital long-term,” she said. “We will need time to work through this process with the University, and will share further details as they become available.”

“I am sorry to deliver this disappointing news, and appreciate your ongoing patience during this process,” she also noted. “In the meantime, and as always, please continue to focus on taking care of our patients.”

Grace Schneider contributed to this report.