SALISBURY TWP., Pa. — The hospital network that announced a week ago that it hopes to merge with Lehigh Valley Health Network has a recent history of growing through merger.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals announced Dec. 18 that it plans to merge with LVHN.
The merger could happen within a year. The next step is for LVHN and Jefferson to reach a formal agreement.
Then paperwork will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the governor.
Many questions about what will happen to the consolidated health network.
But merger is nothing new to the Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health.
Over the past 25 years, Jefferson has merged with at least a half dozen local hospitals in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“Combining Jefferson and LVHN's resources and shared growth strategy would allow us to meet the ever-changing needs of our communities faster, more efficiently, and more effectively,”Irene Contreras Reyes, Jefferson Health's senior director of news and media relations
"The health care landscape and our communities' needs are changing, requiring leading systems to invest in the future of care and wellness," said Irene Contreras Reyes, Jefferson Health's senior director of news and media relations.
“Combining Jefferson and LVHN's resources and shared growth strategy would allow us to meet the ever-changing needs of our communities faster, more efficiently and more effectively,” Reyes said.
Just the latest of many mergers
The deal, which still needs to be finalized and submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, is the latest merger involving the rapidly growing Jefferson University Hospitals.
The health care company was established in 1825, but a significant merger did not come until more than 100 years later.
In its first merger, Jefferson in 1996 came together with South Philadelphia-based Methodist Hospital.History of Jefferson Health
In 1996, Jefferson came together with South Philadelphia-based Methodist Hospital.
Nearly a decade later, it would go on to expand from its then-status as a three-hospital system.
It formed Jefferson Health Abington by merging with Abington Health. The Montgomery County-based system included an established hospital with more than 600 beds.
Since then, Jefferson has been on the merger fast-track.
It merged with Aria Health in 2016 to form Jefferson Health Northeast, which has sites in the Frankford area of Philadelphia; Torresdale and Bucks County.
The following year, more than 30 Kennedy Health Alliance medical practices in Camden, Burlington, Gloucester and Atlantic counties in New Jersey were added to the Jefferson roster.
The growing health care giant then in 2018 merged with Magee Rehabilitation, which was based in Center City, Philadelphia. The two already had a previous clinical partnership.
A difficult merger, then on to LVHN
One of the latest mergers proved to be a difficult one for the company.
A legal battle ensued with the Federal Trade Commission when Jefferson tried to merge with Einstein Healthcare Network.
The deal ultimately went through and Einstein joined Jefferson Health in 2021. Einstein has locations in Philadelphia and Montgomery County.
Now, the greater Lehigh Valley is in the Philadelphia-based system's sites.
“This combination will enable us to provide a quality-focused care model with the ability to expertly manage population health and reduce cost of care, with 700+ sites of care across eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, including hospital, ambulatory and post-acute services."Irene Contreras Reyes, Jefferson Health's senior director of news and media relations
If the deal is approved with Lehigh Valley Health Network, the two health care systems would form a partnership that would result in a regional provider overseeing 30 hospitals and more than 700 outpatient care sites.
“This combination will enable us to provide a quality-focused care model with the ability to expertly manage population health and reduce cost of care, with 700+ sites of care across eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, including hospital, ambulatory and post-acute services," Contreras Reyes said.
"As well as a robust primary care base, addressing health disparities, particularly for patients who have historically faced barriers to high-quality specialty care such as oncology, neurology, orthopedics, cardiovascular services and solid organ transplant," she said.
