Portsmouth firm to buy third D.C. hospital

Specialty Hospitals of America, a Portsmouth-based operator of long-term acute care hospitals, is about to acquire its third facility in Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the owner of Greater Southeast Community Hospital has agreed in principle to sell the troubled facility to Specialty Hospitals, which said it plans to quadruple the number of beds and expand services to create a “medical mall” of care. Cost of the deal is $31.5 million.

Specialty has been in Washington since 2005, when it began operating the former MedLINK Hospital and Nursing Center Capitol Hill. It then purchased Hadley Memorial Hospital from Arizona-based Envision and began offering similar long-term acute care and skilled nursing care there.

Specialty’s chairman, Jim Rappaport, said that, under the new ownership Greater Southeast would offer “a vastly broader array of medical care to the community.” The 110 beds likely would be increased by several dozen and support a strengthened emergency department, intensive care unit and obstetric services, he said.

Specialty intends to put “significant operating capital into the process,” he said. – JEFF FEINGOLD