The Select House Committee on State-Owned Assets decided to delay for at least a year any discussion of the sale of Raleigh’s Rex Healthcare to WakeMed Health and Hospitals. Last year, WakeMed (the former county hospital) offered to purchase Rex from UNC Health Care for $750 million; UNC rejected the offer, but House Speaker Thom Tillis and other Republican legislative leaders opened the matter for discussion and added it to the committee’s list of potential assets for sale. WakeMed believes Rex is competing unfairly by using subsidies from UNC to undercut WakeMed financially; Rex says no subisidies are flowing. As Sara Burrows reported today, part of the controversy swirls around the level of uncompensated care Rex — a part of the state-owned UNC medical system — provides in Wake County. Another issue is whether to consider Rex a public or private facility.
The committee could have decided to place a bill authorizing the sale of Rex before the General Assembly’s short session but chose to wait and discuss further.
This isn’t the last we’ll hear of the matter. To follow Carolina Journal‘s coverage, read more here.
