John Hillenmeyer bragged about Orlando Regional Healthcare System's charity work and trauma-equipped emergency room.
Mardian J. Blair touted Florida Hospital's financial strength and network of hospitals spanning the Southeast.
Sentence for sentence, chart for chart, Hillenmeyer and Blair warmed up to a similar punch line: Their respective nonprofit hospital chains are experienced in improving services at any hospital they acquire.
If the two executives had been in the boxing ring last Monday, they might have knocked each other out.
Instead, as they made a pitch for Parrish Medical Center during a public hearing, they stunned some of their listeners by presenting nearly identical proposals. The hospital's board members delayed a decision on negotiating with a potential partner until Nov. 3.
With 210 beds and 900 employees, Parrish in Titusville is among a dwindling number of independent hospitals in Florida.
Many are under pressure to reduce expenses as health insurers, including Medicare, slash reimbursements. By joining forces, they strengthen their bargaining power to negotiate for managed-care contracts, supplies and new technology. The need to finance construction and pay debt also forces some hospitals to seek large organizations with deep pockets.
Merger mania among Florida hospitals peaked in 1993, when 18 acquisitions and joint ventures were completed. This year, four deals have closed and seven are under discussion. Some of the negotiations involve Central Florida hospitals:
Halifax Hospital Medical Center in Daytona Beach and Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach plan to form a management company.
Florida Hospital is heading west. It is negotiating to merge with Regional Healthcare Inc. in Brooksville and acquire University Community Hospital in Tampa.
ORHS is looking to enter Lake County. In a bid valued at $70 million, it is set to acquire 49 percent of Leesburg Regional Medical Center in mid-November.
Rivals ORHS and Florida Hospital are also competing for a toehold in Brevard County, where neither operates.
Profitable and debt-free, Parrish is a prize. It seeks a bigger partner to build a replacement hospital without dipping into its $60 million cash reserve.
That Florida Hospital and ORHS would grapple for Parrish seemed unlikely two months ago, when many people assumed Health First Inc. of Melbourne had a merger cornered.
But concerns voiced by doctors, senior citizens and political gadflies - that Health First already owns three of Brevard County's five hospitals and is perceived as an aggressive promoter of its own managed-care plans - prompted the board to consider more options.
One of Health First's proposals gave ORHS a minor stake in Parrish. A revised offer introduced last week would make ORHS an equal partner with Health First. It is nearly identical to Florida Hospital's recently enhanced bid, which does not include Health First.
Each proposal is valued at $90 million and would include building a replacement hospital, paying Parrish $15 million in cash and sharing control of the board. Neither would touch the hospital's cash reserves.
Under the Health First-ORHS partnership, each of those chains would get 25 percent of Parrish's board seats for a total of 50 percent. Under the Florida Hospital deal, Florida Hospital would occupy half of the board seats.
Some Brevard doctors foresee Parrish's power base shifting to Orlando with either proposal.
Although Health First and ORHS serve each other's managed-care patients and have discussed merging in the past, top officials of each organization say a merger is unlikely.
''The bigger a hospital gets, if two hospitals become one, they can control more,'' Brevard County rheumatologist Disa Sacks said. ''They can do whatever they want. They can turn around and cut the nursing staff.''
Fear of losing control is an issue in Lake County, too. After investing in Leesburg Regional, ORHS would occupy eight of the board's 17 seats.
''Those eight people will vote as a block. All they have to do is switch one vote,'' said Dr. John Cowin, an orthopedic surgeon. Because Leesburg Regional is financially strong, Cowin questions the need to merge.
''If you sell 49 percent of your hospital, 49 percent of your profit goes somewhere else. Do we really need to sell 49 percent of the hospital to create a managed-care alliance?''
Joe D. DePew, Leesburg Regional's chief executive, said linking with a bigger system is a way to brace for industry turmoil. He cited a survey showing only 11 percent of independent hospitals are expected to remain so by the year 2002.
''We need to fend off three players that are making inroads in our area,'' DePew said, referring to Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. in the north, ORHS in the south and Florida Hospital-Waterman in Eustis.
Controversy often accompanies the moves of independent hospitals to affiliate with larger organizations, and ORHS faces it on both sides of Central Florida.