Pennsylvania health systems announce merger plans
Two Pennsylvania-based health systems have signed a letter of intent to merge and form a new healthcare organization to serve the region.
Butler Health System and Excela Health will combine to create a health system with more than $1 billion in revenue. Butler Health, based in Western, Pennsylvania, is an independent health system and operates two hospitals. It has more than 70 outpatient locations, employs 3,000 people and over 270 providers, making it the largest employer in Clarion County. Excela Health is a 578-bed, tertiary-based health system in Westmoreland County. The organization includes three hospitals and serves more than 23,000 inpatients, 700,000 outpatients and 100,000 emergency visits annually.
“We believe strongly that our new partnership will extend our intellectual and financial capital,” said John Sphon, CEO of Excela, said in a statement. “In doing so, we can enhance access to care, decrease the cost of care and continue to focus on providing improved experiences and outcomes for patients.”
The move will present the requisite scale to accelerate and elevate its relevancy and essentiality in the region’s highly competitive healthcare marketplace, according to the two companies. The new system will employ approximately 7,300 people, and have over 1,000 physicians and practitioners that serve a population of 750,000.
“The new System will provide additional services and better access to those services,” Ken DeFurio, president and CEO at Butler Health System, said in the same statement. “We are pleased that this partnership amplifies our ability to provide tertiary care, yet remain physician led and community focused.”
While both health systems signed their intent to merge, many details of the deal have yet to be worked out, including leadership and a new system name. Remaining discussions, required regulatory approval and final board approvals are likely to be finalized by the end of 2022.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."