St. Peter's Healthcare System, a Catholic hospital system in New Brunswick, N.J., is exploring a merger with West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health.
The two organizations signed a letter of intent Dec. 16 to explore a partnership. This comes about one year after St. Peter's said it was looking for a partner to help it stay competitive in a consolidating market.
"The rapid consolidation of hospitals in New Jersey and need for greater scale, as well as ongoing changes in healthcare delivery made it vital for us to identify a dynamic and strong strategic partner that would allow St. Peter’s to retain its Catholic mission and identity, remain competitive, and yield the best possible outcome for our patients, employees, medical staff and the communities we serve," Leslie Hirsch, president and CEO of St. Peter's Healthcare System said.
Under the terms of the letter of intent, RWJ Barnabas will make significant investments into St. Peter's and the system would remain a Catholic institution.
St. Peter's consists of St. Peter's University Hospital, a 478-bed teaching hospital and state-designated children's hospital, a fundraising arm and network of primary and specialty care practices.
RWJBarnabas Health has 11 acute care hospitals, three acute care children's hospitals and a pediatric rehabilitation hospital.
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