Kittanning, Pa.-based Armstrong County Memorial Hospital signed a definitive agreement March 6 to join Pennsylvania Mountains Care Network, marking the latest in a series of partnerships, mergers and acquisitions between hospitals and health systems in the Keystone State.
In February, Lewisburg, Pa.-based Evangelical Community Hospital signed a definitive agreement to join York, Pa.-based WellSpan. Evangelical has been an independent community hospital for nearly 100 years, but CEO Kendra Aucker said that with an aging population and growing costs, the model was no longer sustainable.
Ms. Aucker said joining WellSpan will allow for better clinical services in its service area where the population is aging and deaths outnumber births. WellSpan is planning to invest more than $100 million in Evangelical over the next three years, which will be used to improve technology, renovate facilities and potentially expand clinical services.
In January, the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia and Doylestown (Pa.) Health signed a nonbinding letter of intent to explore the possibility of integrating Doylestown into Penn Medicine. Penn Medicine said the deal would lay the foundation to develop new clinical programs and expanded services across the greater Philadelphia region and build upon existing clinical integrations between the systems.
Philadelphia-based Jefferson and Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network in late December signed a nonbinding letter of intent to combine. Jefferson CEO Joseph Cacchione, MD, said that as the healthcare landscape and communities' needs are changing, leading systems must evolve and invest in the future of care and wellness. LVHN CEO Brian Nester, DO, said "Jefferson … has done a fabulous job in establishing a highly successful health plan with a sharp focus on the well-being of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries," and added that "Jefferson Health Plans will help drive improvements in health outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations."
Butler (Pa.) Health System and Greensburg, Pa.-based Excela Health combined in January 2023 to create a 5-hospital system called Independence Health System. The combined system cut its losses by 14% in its first year, with the biggest boost to revenue coming from eliminating 200 administrative positions across the system.