Manhattan-based NYU Langone Medical Center is moving forward with a full-asset merger with Brooklyn-based Lutheran Medical Center, according to a Crain's New York Business report.
Here are six things to know about the merger.
1. Last year, NYU Langone announced an agreement to affiliate with Lutheran to establish a clinically integrated provider network across New York City. Under that affiliation agreement, which was approved by state regulators in April, Lutheran became NYU Lutheran Medical Center. However, the hospitals have now decided to pursue a merger "to expedite the growth of NYU Lutheran as a premier site for high-quality medical care in Brooklyn and to address the increasing financial challenges it faces," according to the report, which cites an application seeking regulatory approval from the state Department of Health.
2. The merger gives Lutheran patients greater access to NYU Langone's specialists, according to Crain's New York Business.
3. Financially, the report notes, the merger will improve NYU Langone's balance sheet with the addition of the Brooklyn hospital's assets. The two organizations said in the report that the deal will save the combined entity $56.9 million annually through efficiencies in IT, patient care management, collection of outstanding debts and contracts with managed-care plans.
4. Additionally, the merger gives the 1,069-bed NYU Langone system greater access to Brooklyn patients, according to the report. In 2014, 28 percent of its inpatient admissions and 19 percent of all outpatient visits were from Brooklyn residents, according to the application seeking regulatory approval.
5. NYU Langone plans to refinance NYU Lutheran's outstanding bonds insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and expects the merger to decrease NYU Lutheran's cost of capital and provide it with easier access to capital markets, according to Crain's New York Business.
6. It is still unclear how the merger will impact leadership at the two hospitals, according to the report. NYU Lutheran is developing an advisory board that will provide input on local issues directly to the NYUHospitalsCenter board of trustees and senior management team, the application said, according to the report. NYU Lutheran added five new board members June 15, including three NYU Langone officers, as part of its initial affiliation agreement.