Financial terms of the sale were undisclosed. CTCA announced that plans for a $44-million renovation of the 200-bed, 273,800-sf facility and its conversion into a 40-bed specialty hospital would begin immediately. Robert Mayo, CTCA's vice chairman, says he expects it to open by October 2005. The adjoining, 78,000-sf medical office building, which is a part of the sale and has remained open, will be undisturbed by the renovation and change of ownership.

Another Philadelphia cancer specialty hospital, Fox Chase Cancer Center, has a 100-bed capacity and is initiating construction of a 300,000-sf research pavilion along with a modernization of its existing facility. CTCA currently operates regional medical centers in Zion, IL and Tulsa, OK along with the Seattle Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center.

Tenet owns and operates five hospitals in greater Philadelphia: Hahnemann University Hospital, Graduate Hospital, Roxborough Memorial, and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia County and Warminster Hospital in Bucks County.