IPC The Hospitalist Co. Inc. announced on Tuesday the acquisition of a Florida doctors group. The North Hollywood company, which provides doctors to hospitals and nursing homes, purchased East Coast Hospitalist Inpatient Specialists in the northern Orlando suburb of Lake Mary. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition will bring an additional 47,000 patient visits annually to IPC. “We look forward to this acquisition further expanding our existing Orlando and Daytona Beach presence to surrounding contiguous communities in Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties,” said IPC President Jeffrey Taylor, in a statement. IPC pursues a “roll up” strategy of buying small doctors groups and integrating them into its corporate structure. Just last month, the company purchased TriCounty Hospitalists in Longwood, Fla. near Orlando, and Eddin Medical Services in Daytona Beach. IPC owns about 300 doctors groups and has contracts with more than 400 hospitals and 1,200 nursing homes. It employs more than 1,700 hospitalist doctors and nurses. Shares closed down 47 cents or 1 percent to $46.92 on the Nasdaq. Courtney D. Armstrong has been promoted to executive vice president of worldwide business affairs for Warner Bros. Pictures. Armstrong will oversee business and legal aspects of worldwide film acquisition, production and distribution, including the negotiations with filmmakers and talent at the Burbank studio. He will report to Steven Spira, president, worldwide business affairs. Armstrong joined the Warner Bros. business affairs department in 2003 where he has served as a vice president and senior vice president. He previously had spent three years at Walt Disney Pictures as an attorney in the Business and Legal Affairs department of the Burbank studio’s Motion Picture Group. Spira said that Courtney had been a key part of the success at Warner Bros. and the promotion is well deserved. “He is an exceptionally savvy and creative dealmaker, with strong business instincts and relationships, which have served Warner Bros. well for more than a decade,” Spira said in a prepared statement.
