ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley’s largest employer is officially merging with a Philadelphia-based health care system. Lehigh Valley Health Network and Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals signed a definitive agreement Wednesday.
Once the deal is fully approved – that’s expected to happen later this summer – the two health care systems will form a partnership that would result in a regional provider overseeing 30 hospitals and more than 700 outpatient care sites.
It would employ more than 65,000 people combined.
“Best day in a long time," said Dr. Brain Nester, LVHN’s president and CEO. "It started with very innocent conversations about managed care and how to better serve our Medicaid and Medicare populations and evolved into something much bigger. "
"It started with very innocent conversations about managed care and how to better serve our Medicaid and Medicare populations and evolved into something much bigger."Dr. Brian Nester, LVHN president and CEO
Under the terms, the health systems said, they will maintain their identities, integrate operations and create an integrated care delivery system, including a national research university and an expanded not-for-profit health plan.
Year in the making
“The unified system, which would be in the top 15 nonprofit health systems in the U.S., will increase access to high-quality and affordable care, clinical research and health plan offerings and address health inequities for urban and rural communities in Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey,” they said in a news release.
Nester said the merger has been a year in the making.
"This is just evidence that LVHN will remain the hometown health network that services communities," he said. "Health happens in communities, you can't do it from afar. We are embedded in our community; we will embed even more in our community,
"Micro-hospitals like Macungie, Gilbertsville next month, and many more to come are evidence that we're going to be closer to where you live, work and play, giving you easy access to services so you can engage in your health," Nester said. "And that's the holy grail of medicine. "
Nester said previously that no job cuts are planned through the merger, though LVHN has been consolidating departments for some time to cut costs.
Final approval
The deal still needs to undergo final reviews, and closing conditions need to be agreed upon, the networks said. A letter of intent to combine was announced in January.
Both Jefferson and LVHN will continue to operate as independent entities until the closing.
Once that happens, Dr. Joseph G. Cacchione, chief executive officer of Jefferson, will continue to serve as CEO. LVHN’s Nester will serve as executive vice president/chief operating officer of the Jefferson enterprise and president of the legacy Lehigh Valley Health Network, reporting to Cacchione, according to the news release.
The newly integrated board of trustees and leadership team will be comprised of members from both systems.
