When the deal closes next month, the hospital in Lehigh Acreswill become one of 13 the company owns and operates in Florida. Itwill be the 39th facility the company operates in 15 states, mostlyin the Southeast and Southwest.

Formerly known as Columbia East Pointe, the hospital was one of46 hospitals that Columbia HCA Healthcare Corp. owned and operatedin Florida, according to an annual shareholder's report the companyfiled with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Followingreorganization, the company emerged as Nashville, TN-based HCA-TheHealthcare Co.

As part of that reorganization, HCA agreed to divest some of itsholdings in response to a federal administrative settlementagreement, according to a published shareholder's report. Thecompany agreed to the settlement following negotiations with thefederal Office of the Inspector General over alleged irregularbilling practices.