Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health and Western Reserve Hospital Partners, which operates Western Reserve Hospital, signed a letter of intent to end their three-year battle over the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based hospital, the organizations announced Wednesday, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
Summa Health and the roughly 200-member physician group entered into a partnership to operate the facility in 2009. However, the organizations' relationship began to deteriorate in 2014 after the physician group voted to strip Summa Health of its 40 percent stake in the hospital. Summa Health proceeded to sue WRHP to regain access to information the health system said was necessary to sell its interest in the hospital, according to the report.
Under the letter of intent, Summa Health will sell its stake in the hospital to a third-party investor and sell the facility housing the hospital to WRHP. The organizations also agreed to end all litigation regarding the issue.
"All parties are committed to working together to achieve a definitive agreement to finalize details of the [letter of intent] that will be in the best interests of the community and the patients collectively served. It is expected that the definitive agreement will be completed by the end of 2017, but no date has been set," spokespeople from both organizations said in a joint statement.