Newnan Hospital and Piedmont Healthcare have signed a letter of intent to explore an equity relationship between the two organizations. Newnan and Piedmont have begun a 90-day period of due diligence and the development of a definitive agreement.

As part of the announcement, Piedmont said that if an equity relationship is consummated, it will provide a capital outlay to support existing services such as women’s and children’s programs, as well as new technology and services. Piedmont would work with the medical staff and hospital staff to identify the most appropriate and needed investments of capital.

In addition, Piedmont would pursue the necessary state approvals to build a new hospital and then move forward with construction of the new facility. The medical staff, hospital staff and community would be involved in that planning and development process and in helping to determine the best location for the new hospital.

“The Board of Newnan Hospital is very encouraged by the Piedmont proposal,” said Tom Moat, President, Newnan Hospital Board of Directors. “We have moved very carefully through this exploration process and will continue to do so as we advance to a formal due diligence phase, which includes a period of analysis and negotiations. Our purpose has been – and will be – to serve the best interests of the residents of Coweta and the Newnan Hospital family of employees. We believe signing this letter of intent is an important step in the right direction and will result in a stronger and ever improving health care system for our community.”

R. Timothy Stack, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare, added, “We are excited about the potential to develop an equity relationship with Newnan Hospital. The need for new and expanded services and facilities is evident, and we look forward to working with the community and local physicians in fulfilling that need in order to enhance healthcare services available close to home.”

Newnan Hospital is a 143-bed JCAHO-accredited, private, nonprofit facility, serving Coweta County and the surrounding communities. Additionally, Newnan has approximately 125 primary care and specialty physicians and surgeons to meet the professional clinical needs of children, adults and seniors of the community. For more information, visit www.newnanhospital.org.

Piedmont Healthcare, a not-for-profit organization, is the parent company of Piedmont Hospital, named in the Solucient 100 Tops Hospitals list in 2005 and 2002, and a 500-bed acute tertiary care facility in the north Atlanta community of Buckhead, offering all major medical, surgical and diagnostic services; Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 100-bed acute care community hospital in Fayetteville, also named one of the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals® for the second year in a row; Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 35-bed community hospital in Jasper; the Piedmont Hospital Foundation; Piedmont Physicians Group, a 76-member primary care physician group with 19 offices throughout metro Atlanta; and the Piedmont Clinic, a 460-member physician network. Piedmont and Piedmont Fayette Hospitals were named Most Wired by the 2005 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study and were the only two Georgia hospitals on the 2005 list of 100 Top Hospitals. For more information, visit www.piedmont.org.

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