The 223-bed Wheeling (W.Va.) Hospital signed a letter of intent this week to join Morgantown-based West Virginia University Health System.
Under the letter of intent, Wheeling Hospital would become a member of WVU Health System in March 2021 and will be renamed WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. The facility would become WVU Health System's 13th hospital.
The agreement would still need approval from regulators and the organizations' boards.
"As a full member of our health system, Wheeling Hospital will remain true to its mission, traditions, Catholic identity and practice of medicine, while benefiting from being part of a larger, integrated network," Albert Wright, Jr., president and CEO of WVU Health System, said in a news release.
The letter of intent comes the same week Wheeling Hospital reached a $50 million agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to settle allegations that the hospital and former CEO Ronald Violi violated the anti-kickback law.