The revised Letter of Intent between Beaufort Regional Health System Authority Board and University Health Systems was signed late Tuesday afternoon, according to BRHS Director of Marketing and Public Relations Pam Shadle in a news release to the press, e-mailed this morning.

    "I just wanted to let you all know," said Shadle. "The signing of the Letter of Intent allows the due diligence process to continue to move forward."

    The signing of the Letter of Intent also formalizes the terms of UHS's improved offer to lease BRHS. The improved offer includes a $30 million upfront payment and a $10 million payment if, at the expiration of the lease, UHS acts on its unilateral option to purchase the property. The previous formal Letter of Intent was dated Dec. 10, and included a $24 million upfront payment and a demand of full UHS ownership of BRHS, at the end of the lease period, for no additional consideration.

    The improved terms were communicated, through the UHS Vice President and general counsel, to BRHS attorney Joe Kahn, on the day of the Jan. 18 hospital-board vote to recommend that the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners approve the UHS offer, said Kahn at that night's meeting. Included in the motion to recommend UHS was a provision for finalizing and executing said Letter of Intent.

    The next step in the process for the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners is a Public Hearing regarding the UHS proposal which will be held Wed. Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Building 8 of Beaufort County Community College.

    "Within a few weeks after the public hearing the County Commissioners expect to complete the task of studying and approving the necessary documents that would allow University Health Systems to lease the necessary real estate for operating the hospital," said Shadle in the news release.

    This article provided courtesy of our sister site: Beaufort County Now