WellSpan, Ephrata Community Hospital Finalize Affiliation Plans

WellSpan Health in York, Pa., and Ephrata (Pa.) Community Hospital have finalized plans for Ephrata to join WellSpan.

Through the transaction, the two organizations hope to improve healthcare in central Pennsylvania, enhance local care systems and enhance a model of care based on an individual's relationship with a primary care physician who coordinates all care, according to a news release. Ephrata and WellSpan also seek to maintain existing relationships and clinical affiliations and offer stronger educational resources to remedy a projected shortage of health professionals. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement follows more than a year of due diligence, according to the release. Discussions between the two organizations began in spring 2012, and they signed a memorandum of understanding in October of that year.

Under the agreement, a local board of directors will continue to govern Ephrata, which will be WellSpan's first care delivery center in Lancaster County. The hospital board will have a formal relationship with WellSpan's board of directors, and the Ephrata board will include community members in addition to WellSpan representatives, according to the release.

Ephrata President and CEO John Porter will immediately join WellSpan as a senior vice president while maintaining his current position at Ephrata.

The two entities will now begin integration efforts, the first phase of which will focus on the staff and operations of select administrative support functions and services that are delivered in physicians' offices and home settings.

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