Tri-City Healthcare District and Sharp Healthcare are finalizing the agreement for Sharp to take over Tri-City’s hospital operations and finances.
They’re holding a series of community meetings to get feedback about the deal.
Tri-City posted on its website the affiliation, transfer, and lease agreements totaling more than 100 pages. While some details still need to be finalized, the core aspects of the deal are in place.
“Those define everything that goes over to Sharp ... The responsibilities that Sharp will be taking, including all the liabilities and the debt and all of the assets of Tri-City," said Dr. Gene Ma, Tri-City Health's CEO.
He said the main thing is that the agreement preserves Tri-City's core services and leaves room for improvements and maintenance.
"(That includes) a $100 million commitment in the first five years towards structural improvements, equipment, technology in addition to programs and services,” he said.
Like many public health care districts in the state, Tri-City has been plagued by financial issues since the pandemic. Along with Tri-City’s debts and liabilities, Sharp will also undertake seismic upgrades at Tri-City Medical Center, which amounts to "hundreds of millions of dollars,” Ma said.
One thing that won’t be coming back anytime soon under this deal is labor and delivery. Tri-City discontinued the service in 2023 because of low patient volume. Ma said Sharp is looking at all commercially viable options to bring that back.
“Sharp Mary Birch is San Diego's preeminent provider in women's and newborn services," he said. "So the idea is that that could return to Tri-City with even more services that weren't even here before, including high-risk maternal-fetal medicine. Those are really exciting. And that's what a lot of our community is asking for.”
Since Sharp is a private health care system, the deal needs public approval. Ma said community feedback is critical to the process.
The next meeting is from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Tri-City Medical Center Assembly Rooms, 4002 Vista Way.
If all goes well, the public will vote on the deal next June.
