History
In March 1992, SGOH Acquisition, Inc. d/b/a Doctors Hospital of Springfield, a subchapter-S corporation owned by 11 physician shareholders, acquired the assets of Springfield General Osteopathic Hospital, a 95-bed facility, assuming all existing indebtedness. The hospital operated profitably from FY 1992 through FY 1994.
In October 1995, SGOH contributed the operating assets of the hospital (which had grown to 110 beds) to a limited partnership with Columbia/HCA in return for an equity interest in the partnership. Columbia/HCA contributed the operating assets of a 200-bed hospital doing business as Springfield Community Hospital. The two hospitals did business as Columbia North and Columbia South.
In June 1997, Columbia, acting as general partner, closed Columbia North as an acute-care facility. Almost immediately thereafter, SGOH began negotiations to dissolve the partnership with the intent to re-open the north facility. At the conclusion of a long, complicated process, also involving the Cox Health System in Springfield, SGOH and Columbia dissolved the partnership. SGOH took title to the north facility (including medical equipment) through a contract with Cox that, among other things, granted SGOH the option to participate in the Cox managed care network (Primrose) in the event we were able to re-open the hospital. Cox received the south facility and now operates it as Cox Walnut Lawn.
On January 1, 1999, SGOH had no employees and an unlicensed hospital facility with a badly leaking roof. We began the road back by expanding the physician ownership group from seven (remaining of the original eleven) to twenty. We obtained a certificate of need from the State of Missouri on June 28, 1999, to operate an osteopathic hospital. Since the hospital facility lost its "grandfather" status under hospital licensing requirements, the facility had to meet 1999 specifications as though the facility was new construction. We began intensive renovation in July 1999. On January 1, 2000, SGOH opened DHS for business as a renovated 45-bed hospital, having spent all of its original working capital on renovations and start-up costs.
On January 1, 2008 DHS agreed to transfer ownership and operation of its health system to Ozarks Community Hospital, Inc. ("OCH"), a not-for-profit corporation. The nonprofit corporation was created for this purpose and received no financial support from any third party, nor was it affiliated with any other health system or organization. The transfer of ownership was to take place when OCH became a qualified tax-exempt charitable organization. During the interim, OCH was managing the healthcare system on behalf of DHS under a management agreement.
Due to economic challenges and a delay in receiving the IRS tax determination, the physician-owned, for-profit corporation previously doing business as Doctors Hospital of Springfield ("DHS") resumed operational control of the healthcare system currently doing business as Ozarks Community Hospital, effective July 1, 2008. In order to lessen public confusion, the for-profit corporation will continue to do business as "Ozarks Community Hospital." OCH looks forward to continue providing a substantial community benefit throughout the Ozarks.