Washington Hospital Systems Hope to By-Pass Lengthy State Review of Merger Plans

Vancouver-Wash.-based Southwest Washington Health System and Bellevue-Wash.-based PeaceHealth, which announced their intent to merge last month, could be exempt from a review from Washington State officials because they are not expanding either hospital system, according to a report in The Columbian.

Officials from Southwest Washington said in the report that the two systems are planning on asking state officials to skip the lengthy review process through a letter of non-reviewability, while they iron out the details of the affiliation. Typical mergers involve submitting a certificate of need for expansions and ownership changes to ensure that the transaction will meet, but not exceed, the need for healthcare services in an area.

No changes are expected to be made to Southwest Washington's 442-bed hospital system or PeaceHealth's 1,100-bed system, according to the report. Both systems said that an affiliation will reduce expenses, with savings passed along to patients.

Read the Columbian's report on the Southwest Washington/PeaceHealth merger.