The University of South Alabama Health Care Authority is buying Providence Hospital from St. Louis-based Ascension and its clinics in an $85 million transaction expected to be completed later this fall.

The transaction was approved by the USA Board of trustees during its meeting Tuesday in Mobile.

“This is a very exciting day for health care in the Mobile region,” said Owen Bailey, CEO with USA Health. “We’re excited about what Providence Hospital brings to the table. Our goal is a smooth transition of services with little disruption.”

The acquisition will allow the healthcare authority to acquire the 349-bed, 11-story Providence Hospital facility on Airport Boulevard and its related sites of care, including physician practices of Ascension Medical Group. Providence is a full-service facility with 24/7 emergency care, a Level III trauma center, an outpatient diagnostic center, and a freestanding rehabilitation and wellness center.

USA and Providence Hospital will continue to operate independently until the transaction is finalized.

Dr. John Marymont, vice-president for medical affairs and dean of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama, said there are no plans for layoffs. Providence currently employs around 2,100 employees, he said.

“Quite the contrary,” Marymont said. “We welcome them to our family. We have great aspirations of a smooth transition and offering more services and opportunities of health care needs for Alabama and the Gulf Coast. I think this will enhance both hospitals.”

Marymont said that USA Health and Ascension had been in talks for the past six years about a possible partnership, and said he was confident about the transaction. Ascension Health, a 138-hospital system in 19 states, closed its last fiscal year with a $1.8 billion net loss, amid soaring operational costs.

“We have done an extreme amount of due diligence and we are confident in the evaluation of the opportunity,” Marymont said.

Bailey said for USA Health, the past five years have been “a period of explosive growth,” which he said has seen the health system grow from approximately seven locations in 2016 to 30 or so within the Mobile area.

USA Health is the only academic health system along the upper Gulf Coast, and operates University Hospital in Mobile, Children’s & Women’s Hospital, and the Mitchell Cancer Institute.

“We are at and exceeding capacity at our hospitals at USA Health,” said Bailey. “This (transaction) is about having three hospitals instead of two and what that means about more options to place patients. Instead of being a negative, it will be a positive.”

He added, “When you are growing at a rate we are growing, you need to make key decisions on what is best for patients.”