Boards of Directors approve Memorandum of Understanding
Leadership at PinnacleHealth and WellSpan Health continue to evaluate the opportunity to formally align the two health care organizations. This week, the boards of directors of both organizations approved a Memorandum of Understanding, which is an agreement that outlines a potential merger.
According to Bruce Bartels, president of WellSpan Health, and Roger Longenderfer, M.D., president and CEO of PinnacleHealth, the Memorandum of Understanding represents an important step in the evaluation of a potential regional integrated delivery system that would combine the best of both organizations and more effectively serve the growing and aging communities of central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland for years to come. The document is non-binding, which means that both organizations may withdraw from ongoing discussions at any time.
The new health system would meet the future challenges of a changing health care environment by offering:
- stronger medical, nursing and allied health educational resources to address a projected shortage of physicians and health professionals
- a full spectrum of health services, which would be coordinated and located in communities across the region
- more efficient operations with costs spread over a larger base and improved access to capital
- a commitment to leading efforts to improve health status in Central Pennsylvania’s communities
According to the Memorandum of Understanding, a new regional health care organization would be governed by a board of directors that would include representatives of both systems and communities across the region. The system would continue to operate PinnacleHealth Hospitals, Gettysburg Hospital and York Hospital under their existing names and as distinct facilities with separate licenses and medical staffs. It would also evaluate opportunities to align activities in other parts of the care continuum.
The new organization would be led by the current CEOs in an executive office, with Bruce Bartels as president and CEO and Roger Longenderfer as executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Discussions between the two organizations began in March 2009 and have involved senior management and volunteer board leadership.
What’s next?
Community board leaders and senior management will continue to explore the details of the potential merger. The next steps include a period of formal due diligence and consideration of a final merger agreement in early 2010, followed by regulatory review.
About PinnacleHealth
PinnacleHealth was formed in 1996 with the merger of Capital Health System and Polyclinic Medical Center and the subsequent merger with Community General Osteopathic Hospital in 1998. The health care network serves Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties with more than 60 locations, including four multi-specialty health campuses (Community, Cumberland, Harrisburg and Polyclinic), two acute care hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, FamilyCare physician practices, home health and hospice services and array of other ambulatory health care services. Website: www.pinnaclehealth.org
About WellSpan Health
WellSpan Health is an integrated health system formed in 1999 when York Health System and Gettysburg Hospital affiliated. The organization provides care to patients in Adams and York counties and northern Maryland through more than 65 patient care sites, and includes Gettysburg Hospital, York Hospital, the WellSpan Medical Group, VNA Home Health, WellSpan Pharmacy, Apple Hill Surgical Center and SOUTHCENTRAL Preferred, along with an array of ambulatory healthcare services. Website: www.wellspan.org
