Catholic Health Initiatives has agreed to enter exclusive negotiations to divest St. Joseph Medical Center to the University of Maryland Medical System.

The agreement follows months of talks with suitors for St. Joseph, a 305-bed hospital in Towson, Md., after which the University of Maryland, Baltimore, won endorsement from the St. Joseph board of directors, according to a news release (PDF).

Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, which includes 55 hospitals in 16 states, and the Catholic Church must approve the deal and the university system agreed to “to honor SJMC's Catholic identity and its religious heritage,” the release said. Talks are expected to eventually produce a definitive agreement.