You too can own a hospital

The Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center

A few brief items this morning:

It looks like you’ll soon be able to buy an ownership share of the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. The hospital’s parent company, HCA Inc.,  this week filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a public corporation again. It wants to sell124 million shares of stock. The initial price of the stock is expected to be between $27 and $30 per share. At $3.5 billion, the stock offering is said to be the largest ever.

HCA is a privately held company, based in Nashville. HCA operates 164 hospitals and 106 freestanding surgery centers, including the new hospital in Spotsylvania. The stock will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, beginning next month.

This is the third time that HCA has become a public company. The first time was in 1969. It went private, then reemerged as a public company in 1992. In 2006, investors took it private again with a $21 billion buyout.

The Mary Washington Healthcare Board of Trustees has added two new members: William Boldon and John McKeown.

Boldon was elected to the board in January. He filled the position left by Rev. Allen Fisher, whose term expired in December. Boldon is a retired administrative partner of McKinsey & Company, an international consulting firm.

McKeown was elected to the board in November. He filled the position left by John Burrow.  McKeown is a private consultant, specializing in executive management and engineering.  He has more than 40 years experience in systems engineering, aircraft design and digital systems with the Navy and Sikorsky Aircraft.

The Lloyd Moss Free Clinic will be offering free flu shots tomorrow. The Fredericksburg clinic has 250 shots that it will distribute Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The shots will be offered on a first-come, first- served basis to anyone 19 or older. You do not have to be a clinic patient to get a shot.

Nursing students from George Mason University will be on hand to help with the shots. They also will do free screenings, including blood pressure checks and blood sugar testing.

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