Late News: Parties approve agreement ending Health Alliance in Ohio

The parties to the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati signed a final agreement that effectively puts an end to what once was a regionally dominant league of five healthcare organizations. The resolution follows a memorandum of understanding reached in March. The final agreement sorts out the complex severing of assets and joint ownership interests belonging to 209-bed Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati and 187-bed Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio. The Health Alliance declined to disclose details. According to the memorandum of understanding, Jewish Hospital owned a 45% interest in the alliance and Fort Hamilton held a 6% interest, with the balance held by the University of Cincinnati, owner of 481-bed University Hospital. The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati has sold Jewish Hospital to Mercy Health Partners, a division of Catholic Healthcare Partners. Fort Hamilton, meanwhile, has a tentative deal to be acquired by Kettering Health Network, Dayton, Ohio. The University of Cincinnati last year created UC Health as a new nameplate for University Hospital and University of Cincinnati Physicians, and which now will include West Chester (Ohio) Medical Center, which opened in 2009.