Mercy Health and Bon Secours Health System plan to merge to form a 43-hospital entity that serves seven states, the organizations announced Wednesday.
The combined system would have $8 billion in net operating revenue and $293 million in operating income. More than 57,000 associates and 2,100 employed physicians and advance practice clinicians would work in more than 1,000 locations across the East Coast, Ohio and Kentucky, including more than 50 home health agencies, hospices, skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities.
Executives of the Catholic health systems said the merger would create the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country that could leverage economies of scale to deliver better, more affordable care. They expect to complete the merger by the end of the year.
“The mission, vision, values and geographic service areas of Bon Secours and Mercy Health are remarkably well-aligned and highly complementary,” Bon Secours CEO Richard Statuto said in a statement. “This merger strengthens our shared commitment to improve population health, eliminate health disparities, build strength to address social determinants of health, and invest heavily in innovating our approaches to health care.”
The proposed merger follows a spate of recent hospital merger announcements that seek scale to cope with the changing industry. Executives promise more efficient operations that will deliver better care to more people at a lower cost while economists warn that highly concentrated markets will raise prices and compromise quality.
Cincinnati-based Mercy Health has 23 hospitals, 26 post-acute facilities and more than 33,500 employees throughout Ohio and Kentucky. Its clinically integrated network serves more than 200,000 patients through the Medicare shared-savings program.
With operations in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and New York, Marriottsville, Md. -based Bon Secours owns, manages or operates joint ventures of 20 hospitals and 27 post-acute facilities that employ 24,000 workers.
Article source: http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20180221/NEWS/180229982