Officials on the Thursday call did not say when they expected the deal to close, but Temple will sell bonds in June to pay for it. "We were able to negotiate with the banks to take out their debt," Kaiser said.
According to draft financial statements, Fox Chase had $126.5 million in long-term debt on June 30, 2011. Because of a shortage of cash, the cancer center had skipped numerous debt payments owed to Citizens, TD, and Wells Fargo Banks. J.P. Morgan holds some bonds.
After three years in which it lost $20.8 million, Fox Chase earned $3.7 million in fiscal 2011, thanks to operating improvements aided by a consulting firm, Kaiser said.
Acquisition of Fox Chase is a key component of Kaiser's plan to expand Temple's footprint outside North Philadelphia, where it faces huge financial challenges as "the de facto public hospital in the largest city in the country without a public hospital," he said.
Temple also plans to expand into the suburbs with a series of urgent-care and ambulatory-care centers, such as the one that opened in Oaks in October and has exceeded expectations, Kaiser said.
Contact Harold Brubaker at 215-854-4651 or hbrubaker@phillynews.com.
