Tri-City Medical Center’s board of directors unanimously voted Thursday to partner with Sharp Healthcare in a long-term lease that will bring significant changes to North County.
Sharp and UC San Diego Health were the top two candidates among 25 health care providers reviewed by a Tri-City consultant. Sharp and UCSD Health both initially submitted their proposals in October 2023, but a tentative deal with UCSD fell through after nine months of negotiations and Tri-City asked to reconsider all offers.
“The Sharp Healthcare system stands out,” said board Vice Chair Nina Chaya, a physician, who led Thursday’s meeting while Chair Tracy Younger participated remotely.
Sharp will help “build shared values” as the public hospital faces the increasing challenges of higher costs and patients without medical insurance, Chaya said. As many as 15,000 people in the district could lose Medicaid in the months ahead, she said.
“If we don’t act now, we are going to lose more of our doctors, our nurses and our patients,” she said. “This decision will shape health care for years to come.”
Director Adela Sanchez, of the board’s ad hoc selection committee, said Sharp “offers the clearest path forward.”
Under the agreement, Sharp will assume all of Tri-City’s assets and debts, and will turn the facility into an acute care and clinical service “hub” for North County.
Both proposals included investing roughly $100 million in Tri-City, to help stabilize the financial situation that has deteriorated since the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospital closed its obstetrics and neonatal intensive care units in July 2023 because of low patient volume.
As a private, not-for-profit health care provider, Sharp’s offer will require a public vote, a hurdle it cleared in La Mesa at Grossmont Hospital, which it has leased from the Grossmont Healthcare District since 1991.
Randy Lenac, a three-term director on the Grossmont Healthcare District board, called in via Zoom to Sharp’s proposal.
His board’s decision to lease to Sharp was controversial at the time, but proved successful and every stakeholder has benefited, he said.
“Not only did we survive, but we prospered,” Lenac said. “You would be hard-pressed today to find a naysayer.”
UCSD proposed forming a t powers authority with Tri-City, which would not have required a public vote. Together, the two organizations would tly operate the hospital while investing in operational improvements, including opening a new cancer center in a Tri-City medical office building that has been vacant for 15 years.
Patty Maysent, CEO of UCSD Health, said after Thursday’s decision that there were “no hard feelings.”
“Both were good proposals and either one would be a really good partner,” Maysent said. “We are here in North County, and we will continue to work together.”
Tri-City Medical Center, operated by Tri-City Healthcare District, is a public hospital district serving residents of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista and the surrounding areas.
The deal with Sharp includes bringing the medical center into seismic safety compliance for 175 beds and decommissioning a non-compliant portion of the building known as the central tower, said Tri-City CEO Gene Ma. The hospital is licensed for nearly 400 beds.
Seismic safety requirements and the need for costly upgrades have been an issue for at least 20 years at Tri-City, which opened in 1961.
