Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health signed a definitive agreement to acquire Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare.
The deal will create a national health system that combines LifePoint's 87 hospitals with Kindred's vast network of long-term acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals.
LifePoint said it will invest $1.5 billion in the next three years to improve care for the communities that the combined organization will serve. The investments include personal and professional growth for employees, capital projects and technology upgrades.
LifePoint said the combined organization will help coordinate care for patients to improve health outcomes without increasing costs.
The two for-profit organizations said they expect the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of this year.