Thursday, Dec. 5, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The planned acquisition of Prime Health and Med One Health Plan by Sierra Health Services should have positive implications for local customers, according to company officials.
Meanwhile, Southern Nevadans should see little ramifications as a result of the sale of a division of Las Vegas-based Transitional Hospitals Corp. to Nashville, Tenn.-based Behavioral Healthcare Corp.
Prime Health and Med One customers will fall under the Sierra Health Services umbrella when the acquisition is complete early next year, said Ria Marie Carlson, vice president of public and investor relations.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed within 60 days. No firm timetable has been established for the changeover, Carlson said.
Prime and Med One customers will receive new insurance cards indicating they are covered by Health Plan of Nevada and will have access to Prime's 400-plus doctors in addition to Sierra's doctors. "We have close to 900 doctors that are HPN doctors, so if you preferred to change your doctor, you would have those additional doctors," she said.
Additionally, Sierra members will gain access to Columbia Sunrise Mountain View Hospital, which currently is not a covered hospital. And, when the acquisition is finalized, Prime customers will be able to use Southwest Medical Associates, a large medical group currently not covered under its plan.
Carlson couldn't say specifically what will happen to insurance costs as a result of the arrangement, but she said "another benefit (of the acquisition) from a customer standpoint is that a larger organization is able to take advantage of economies of scale."
Med One Health Plan serves 11,000 members. Prime Health operates preferred provider organizations serving 200,000 people through administrative services contracts for self-insured employers and union welfare funds.
Sierra Health Services serves more than 500,000 people across the United States. Health Plan of Hevada, its subsidiary, is the largest HMO in Nevada with 155,868 members.
Sierra Health Services currently employs 2,400 people while Prime employs 280. The executive said it's premature to discuss possible layoffs.
"There is overlap since both are in the same market and not all positions are going to be able to transfer over. But Sierra has many job openings right now. Positions are going to need to be filled and positions needed to support the larger organization," Carlson said.
People who have coverage with Prime and Sierra will be kept apprised of changes through their employers and via newsletters and letters put out by the various companies involved, she said.
Prime Health and Med One are owned by Prime Holdings Inc., which is owned by Columbia Sunrise Hospital, founder and chief executive officer Dr. Elias Ghanem and Edward Nigro.
The completion of the sale of Transitional Hospitals Corp.'s U.S. psychiatric operations to Behavioral Healthcare Corp. of Nashville will have little impact on Southern Nevada because Transitional did not operate a psychiatric facility in Southern Nevada, said Suzanne Shirley, senior vice president of investor and corporate relations.
The sale necessitated the elimination of 60 positions and the layoff of employees at the Las Vegas-based corporate headquarters of Transitional, formerly known as Community Psychiatric Centers, she said.
The layoff process started in November, but some of the employees will stay through January depending upon their positions. Some employees were transferred to Nashville and some are probably still negotiating for jobs with the new company, she added.
Transitional sold its psychiatric hospitals in the United States so it could concentrate its efforts on its 15 long-term acute-care hospitals and two satellite facilities in 12 states. An additional hospital is in the final development stages.
Transitional employs 142 people in its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas, in addition to 250 people at its 52-bed long-term acute care facility at 5100 W. Sahara Ave.
Behavioral Healthcare operates Montevista Hospital, a psychiatric facility, in Las Vegas.
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