Hospital taken over by Priory (From The Northern Echo)

Hospital taken over by Priory

8:47am Saturday 20th March 2010 in

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THE Priory, best known for providing celebrities with help to overcome their addictions, has been granted clearance to run its first North- East facility.

The Priory Group will take ownership of Middleton St George Hospital, near Darlington, after receiving Office of Fair Trading (OFT) approval to buy Affinity Healthcare Group.

The hospital, which opened an eating disorders service in January, has 80 beds and includes a low-security unit, psychiatric intensive care unit and intensive rehabilitation unit.

As well as Middleton St George, Affinity also owns the Cheadle Royal Hospital, near Manchester, which provides similar services, and has plans in place for an adolescent mental health unit in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland.

Priory chief executive Philip Scott said: “We are pleased that the OFT has cleared our acquisition of Affinity Healthcare Group and we now look forward to commencing the process that will ensure the Affinity hospitals operate as part of the larger Priory Group.

“The Affinity hospitals provide high-quality services and will fit well into the hospital division operated at Priory.

“We look forward to working with commissioners who currently purchase services from both hospital groups.”