MEDNAX acquires Neonatology Associates in Kingsport

MEDNAX, Inc., (NYSE:MD) today announced the acquisition of a neonatal physician group based in Kingsport, TN.

“As part of Pediatrix we will be joining a group of physicians who share our own long-standing interest and commitment to quality improvement initiatives that enable us to continuously provide the highest level of care and achieve the best possible outcomes for our neonatal patients and their families.”

Neonatology Associates, PC, consists of three physicians who staff the Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, TN - providing care for neonatal patients from northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia and southeast Kentucky. Annual NICU patient volume at Holston Valley Medical Center exceeds 4,000 days.

The physicians will practice as part of MEDNAX's Pediatrix Medical Group, a national medical group that comprises the nation's leading provider of neonatal, maternal-fetal medicine and pediatric cardiology physicians, as well as other pediatric subspecialists.

"For more than two decades, our practice has provided care for premature babies in the various communities that we serve, and we are excited to now be partnering with a well-organized and highly-established national group that focuses on collaboration amongst physicians nationwide to help improve clinical care for the neonatal population," said P.J. Powers, M.D., who will serve as Pediatrix's medical director for the practice. "As part of Pediatrix we will be joining a group of physicians who share our own long-standing interest and commitment to quality improvement initiatives that enable us to continuously provide the highest level of care and achieve the best possible outcomes for our neonatal patients and their families."

MEDNAX paid cash for the practice, and the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to its earnings. No additional terms of the transaction were disclosed.

With this acquisition, 14 physician group practices have become part of Pediatrix Medical Group and American Anesthesiology during 2010.