After negotiations to purchase Cedars Medical Hospital, the University of Miami School of Medicine signed a letter of intent to purchase the facility, located across the street from UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Until Monday, a partnership between UM and Cedars was uncertain, due to the announcement last year that UM would build its own 114-bed hospital.
Though the purchase of Cedars will provide UM with a 560-bed hospital facility, plans for a UM-built facility have not been cancelled. Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt said the university plans to maintain an alliance between UM and Jackson, which is overseen by the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County.
Furthermore, HCA, the company that currently owns Cedars, plans to provide support service to UM to go along with the purchase. HCA will provide billing and collections, information technology and procurement services to the university.
Representatives from the Miller School declined a request by The Miami Hurricane to comment.