IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc. (Nasdaq:IPCM), a leading national physician group practice company that provides hospitalist services, announced two acquisitions in Florida. The North Hollywood company announced the purchase of Inpatient Clinical Solutions Inc. (ICS), an acute-care medical practice in Coral Springs, Flo., and the hospitalist practice of Lionel J. Gatien, D.O., P.A., based in Jacksonville, Flo. The acquisitions represent IPC’s continued expansion in South Florida, where the company already has an established presence. IPC expects to add approximately 80,000 patient visits on an annualized basis from the Coral Springs acquisition and 36,000 patient encounters from the Jacksonville purchase. IPC has about 5 million patient encounters on an annualized basis. The company is expected to report full-year financial results on Feb. 21. The ICS acquisition remains subject to completion of due diligence and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012, subject to remaining ICS shareholder approvals. The ICS deal represents a “significant opportunity for us to build our presence with both health plans and hospital institutions in South Florida,” Adam Singer, M.D., chairman and CEO of IPC, said in a statement. He said ICS has built a strong team of quality-focused hospitalists. “With added resources from IPC, we believe that this group will be well positioned to offer an even higher level of service, quality, and capabilities.” ICS executives Ozzie Bloom and Hina Sharma, M.D. will assist in the transition and integration of the practice. Commenting on the acquisition, Ozzie Bloom of ICS said the company conducted a thorough investigation of its strategic alternatives and “decided that joining forces with IPC is in the best interests of our managed care clients, our hospital clients, our providers, our shareholders, and our patients.” The Jacksonville acquisition represents further expansion into the Jacksonville market for IPC. IPC said Dr. Gatien’s hospitalist group is a well-known and highly-respected acute-care practice and will enhance IPC’s reputation for the high-quality care. The practice is co-owned by Lionel Gatien, D.O. and Naja Naddaf, M.D. Both plan to remain with the practice under IPC. Judy Temes
