Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare announced this week that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell five hospitals in Florida to Dallas-based Steward Health Care.

Under the terms of the agreement, Steward will purchase five hospitals and their associated physician practices from Tenet for approximately $1.1 billion. The hospitals included in the sale are Coral Gables Hospital, Florida Medical Center, Hialeah Hospital, North Shore Medical Center and Palmetto General Hospital.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

“As community anchors, our five hospitals in the Miami-Dade and Southern Broward counties have earned the trust of patients and physicians alike,” said Ron A. Rittenmeyer, Tenet’s Executive Chairman and CEO. “We are pleased they will become part of Steward Health Care as the Company’s first South Florida network, and we are confident they will continue to thrive.”

The agreement also provides that Tenet’s Conifer Health Solutions subsidiary will continue to provide revenue cycle management services to the five hospitals following completion of the transaction. Tenet’s ambulatory facilities operated by United Surgical Partners International (USPI) in these markets will remain with Tenet and are not included in the transaction.

Steward’s operations will be directed by Sanjay Shetty, MD, president of Steward North America. In a statement, Dr. Shetty added that Steward is committed to offering employment to all staff in good standing when the transaction is complete

“Steward’s physician-led model was built to put care back in the hands of the caregivers,” said Dr. Shetty. “We are looking forward to focusing on investments in infrastructure and new technology, as well as growing the physician network to make it even easier for patients and health care professionals to access and provide the care they deserve.”

The transaction will bring Steward’s total hospital count to 44 worldwide and more than double its presence in Florida as the five new facilities join Melbourne Regional Medical Center, Rockledge Regional Medical Center, and Sebastian River Medical Center on Florida’s Space Coast.

Steward’s extensive network of hospitals, urgent care centers, skilled nursing facilities and substantial behavioral health services annually serves more than 12.3 million patients across the United States, Colombia and Malta through its more than 5,500 providers and 43,000 health care professionals.