Banner Health to buy full control of North Colorado Medical Center for $328.4M

GREELEY  — Banner Health has agreed to pay $328.4M to buy out Weld County and the North Colorado Medical Center’s holding company’s interests in the Greeley-based hospital.

In a joint statement Thursday, the Weld County Commissioners said they plan to sell the land and the 378-bed hospital itself to the Phoenix-based health care provider.

The deal includes $209.5 million to pay off all of the hospital debt incurred by NCMC Inc., which leases the hospital property from the county. It also gives Banner ownership of several other clinics and emergency rooms in the county.

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Weld County Commissioners chairwoman Barbara Kirkmeyer said the county will move $59.4 million of its sale proceeds to endow the Bright Futures program, which help local students attend college or trade school.

Meanwhile, NCMC will take its expected $59.5 million in proceeds and operate solely as a non-profit to promote health initiatives in the county.

In a phone interview with BizWest, Banner North Colorado CEO Margo Karsten said the hospital won’t see any day-to-day changes leading up to the deal’s closure or afterwards.

She said the deal, which will be financed with a mix of Banner cash reserves and bonds, allows the health system to pursue other acquisitions across the country more quickly. It also allows each individual organization to service the community in their own specific way, she said.

“It’s a good example of how public and private partnerships can work together to improve a community’s well-being,” she said.

Banner has operated the hospital through an agreement with NCMC since 1995. In 2001, NCMC’s board signed a 21-year deal to extend Banner’s operations at the hospital and rejected a controversial proposed partnership with Poudre Valley System, which is now part of UCHealth. The CEO of Poudre Valley said at the time that rejecting the partnership with the Fort Collins-based hospital would send millions of dollars in revenue out of the region.

Banner and NCMC last agreed in 2012 to extend the operating agreement to 2027.

The deal requires approval from the Colorado Attorney General’s office. Spokesman Lawrence Pacheco said Said the Attorney General’s office has to review the deal 60 days before its effective date, and will decide whether to approve the deal or not based on how much it will change the hospital’s charitable giving in the region and the state. 

This story previously said NCMC Inc. owned Northern Colorado Medical Center. It has been corrected to say that NCMC leases the property from Weld County.