Community Health closes on Florida hospital acquisition

Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH) announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of 154-bed Lake Wales Medical Center in Polk County Florida, roughly 55 miles east of Tampa, Fla.

CHS bought the facility from a tax-exempt organization named Winter Haven Hospital. CHS will its usual growth strategy of physician recruitment and service expansion. The purchase brings CHS’s count to 63 hospitals. Its other Florida facility is North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview, Fla.