Company seeks to buy Commerce's BJC Medical Center

COMMERCE, Ga. (AP) A new company is in negotiations to buy BJC Medical Center, a public hospital in Commerce.

Banks-Jackson-Commerce Hospital and Nursing Home Authority recently signed a ``nonbinding letter of intent'' to sell the hospital with Marietta-based Doctors Hospital of Georgia, an affiliate of Atlanta-based EDT Group Inc.

The letter is the first step in a long process. Hospital officials hope Doctors Hospital will acquire BJC and build another hospital nearby.

Hospital CEO Jim Yarborough said BJC has been negotiating with private companies since last year, but Doctors Hospital is the first to show serious interest.
The hospital authority has wanted to build a new $37 million public hospital but couldn't afford the project on its own.