Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Disclosure [Abstract]

Consolidation subsidiaries or other investments consolidated entities

     Noncontrolling interests in less-than-wholly-owned consolidated subsidiaries of the parent are presented as a component of total equity on the condensed consolidated balance sheets to distinguish between the interests of the parent company and the interests of the noncontrolling owners. Noncontrolling interests that are redeemable or may become redeemable at a fixed or determinable price at the option of the holder or upon the occurrence of an event outside of the control of the Company are presented in mezzanine equity on the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Goodwill

     Goodwill is allocated to each identified reporting unit, which is defined as an operating segment or one level below the operating segment (referred to as a component of the entity). Management has determined that the Company’s operating segments meet the criteria to be classified as reporting units. At June 30, 2011, the hospital operations reporting unit, the home care agency operations reporting unit, and the hospital management services reporting unit had approximately $4.2 billion, $35.9 million and $33.3 million, respectively, of goodwill.

     Goodwill is evaluated for impairment at the same time every year and when an event occurs or circumstances change that, more likely than not, reduce the fair value of the reporting unit below its carrying value. There is a two-step method for determining goodwill impairment. Step one is to compare the fair value of the reporting unit with the unit’s carrying amount, including goodwill. If this test indicates the fair value is less than the carrying value, then step two is required to compare the implied fair value of the reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying value of the reporting unit’s goodwill. The Company has selected September 30 as its annual testing date. The Company performed its last annual goodwill evaluation as of September 30, 2010, which evaluation took place during the fourth quarter of 2010. No impairment was indicated by this evaluation.

     The Company estimates the fair value of the related reporting units using both a discounted cash flow model as well as an EBITDA multiple model. The cash flow forecasts are adjusted by an appropriate discount rate based on the Company’s estimate of a market participant’s weighted-average cost of capital. These models are both based on the Company’s best estimate of future revenues and operating costs and are reconciled to the Company’s consolidated market capitalization, with consideration of the amount a potential acquirer would be required to pay, in the form of a control premium, in order to gain sufficient ownership to set policies, direct operations and control management decisions.

Fair value of financial instruments

     Cash and cash equivalents. The carrying amount approximates fair value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments (less than three months).

     Available-for-sale securities. Estimated fair value is based on closing price as quoted in public markets.

     Trading securities. Estimated fair value is based on closing price as quoted in public markets.

     Credit Facility. Estimated fair value is based on information from the Company’s bankers regarding relevant pricing for trading activity among the Company’s lending institutions.

     Senior notes. Estimated fair value is based on the average bid and ask price as quoted by the bank who served as underwriter in the sale of these notes.

     Other debt. The carrying amount of all other debt approximates fair value due to the nature of these obligations.

     Interest rate swaps. The fair value of interest rate swap agreements is the amount at which they could be settled, based on estimates calculated by the Company using a discounted cash flow analysis based on observable market inputs and validated by comparison to estimates obtained from the counterparty. The Company incorporates credit valuation adjustments (“CVAs”) to appropriately reflect both its own nonperformance or credit risk and the respective counterparty’s nonperformance or credit risk in the fair value measurements. In adjusting the fair value of its interest rate swap agreements for the effect of nonperformance or credit risk, the Company has considered the impact of any netting features included in the agreements.

Policy related to health care entity

     In August 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2010-24, which provides clarification to companies in the healthcare industry on the accounting for professional liability insurance. This ASU states that receivables related to insurance recoveries should not be netted against the related claim liability and such claim liabilities should be determined without considering insurance recoveries. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2010 and was adopted by the Company on January 1, 2011. The adoption of this ASU increased other current assets by $2.5 million, other assets, net by $41.1 million and long-term liabilities by $43.6 million in the condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2011 and had no impact to the condensed consolidated statement of income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.

     In August 2010, the FASB issued ASU 2010-23, which requires a company in the healthcare industry to use its direct and indirect costs of providing charity care as the measurement basis for charity care disclosures. This ASU also requires additional disclosures of the method used to determine such costs. The Company adopted this ASU on January 1, 2011. In the ordinary course of business, the Company renders services to patients who are financially unable to pay for hospital care. Included in the provision for contractual allowances is the value (at the Company’s standard charges) of these services to patients who are unable to pay that is eliminated from net operating revenues when it is determined they qualify under the Company’s charity care policy. The estimated cost incurred by the Company to provide these services to patients who are unable to pay was approximately $28.0 million and $25.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $54.1 million and $50.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The estimated cost of these charity care services was determined using a ratio of cost to gross charges and applying that ratio to the gross charges associated with providing care to charity patients for the period. Gross charges associated with providing care to charity patients includes only the related charges for those patients who are financially unable to pay and qualify under the Company’s charity care policy and that do not otherwise qualify for reimbursement from a governmental program.

     In July 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-07, which requires healthcare organizations that perform services for patients for which the ultimate collection of all or a portion of the amounts billed or billable cannot be determined at the time services are rendered to present all bad debt expense associated with patient service revenue as an offset to the patient service revenue line item in the statement of operations. The ASU also requires qualitative disclosures about the Company’s policy for recognizing revenue and bad debt expense for patient service transactions and quantitative information about the effects of changes in the assessment of collectibility of patient service revenue. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, and will be adopted by the Company in the first quarter of 2012. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact the adoption of this ASU will have on its consolidated results of operations and consolidated financial position.

Segment reporting policy

     The Company operates in three distinct operating segments, represented by hospital operations (which includes its general acute care hospitals and related healthcare entities that provide inpatient and outpatient healthcare services), home care agency operations (which provide in-home outpatient care), and hospital management services (which provides executive management and consulting services to non-affiliated acute care hospitals). Only the hospital operations segment meets the criteria as a separate reportable segment. The financial information for the home care agencies and hospital management services segments do not meet the quantitative thresholds for a separate identifiable reportable segment and are combined into the corporate and all other reportable segment.

Condensed consolidated financial information policy

     In connection with the consummation of the Triad acquisition, CHS obtained approximately $7.2 billion of senior secured financing under the Credit Facility and issued the Notes in the aggregate principal amount of approximately $3.0 billion. The Notes are senior unsecured obligations of CHS and are guaranteed on a senior basis by the Company and by certain of its existing and subsequently acquired or organized 100% owned domestic subsidiaries.

     The Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a joint and several basis. The following condensed consolidating financial statements present Community Health Systems, Inc. (as parent guarantor), CHS (as the issuer), the subsidiary guarantors, the subsidiary non-guarantors and eliminations. These condensed consolidating financial statements have been prepared and presented in accordance with SEC Regulation S-X Rule 3-10 “Financial Statements of Guarantors and Issuers of Guaranteed Securities Registered or Being Registered.”

     The accounting policies used in the preparation of this financial information are consistent with those elsewhere in the consolidated financial statements of the Company, except as noted below:

• Intercompany receivables and payables are presented gross in the supplemental consolidating balance sheets.

• Cash flows from intercompany transactions are presented in cash flows from financing activities, as changes in intercompany balances with affiliates, net.

• Income tax expense is allocated from the parent guarantor to the income producing operations (other guarantors and non-guarantors) and the issuer through stockholders’ equity. As this approach represents an allocation, the income tax expense allocation is considered non-cash for statement of cash flow purposes.

• Interest expense, net has been presented to reflect net interest expense and interest income from outstanding long-term debt and intercompany balances.

     The Company’s intercompany activity consists primarily of daily cash transfers for purposes of cash management, the allocation of certain expenses and expenditures paid for by the parent on behalf of its subsidiaries, and the push down of investment in its subsidiaries. The Company’s subsidiaries generally do not purchase services from each other; thus, the intercompany transactions do not represent revenue generating transactions. All intercompany transactions eliminate in consolidation.

     From time to time, the Company sells and/or repurchases noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiaries, which may change subsidiaries between guarantors and non-guarantors. Amounts for prior periods are restated to reflect the status of guarantors or non-guarantors as of June 30, 2011.