Deal unites four upstate New York hospitals

A deal combining four upstate New York hospitals, thus creating a new secular Albany, N.Y. group—St. Peter's Health Partners—is finally complete.

Officials in 2009 first announced the proposal to merge St. Peter's in Albany and Albany Memorial along with St. Mary's and Samaritan, both of Troy, N.Y. The deal involved three companies. St. Peter's is part of Catholic Health East in Newton Square, Pa., while Seton Health—part of Ascension Health of St. Louis—operates St. Mary's, and Northeast Health runs Samaritan. St. Peter's and St. Mary's will retain their Catholic identities, but the new parent is secular, a news release said. Abortions will no longer be provided anymore at all facilities, officials had said.

Officials said federal and state government cuts served as motivation for the merger, and that pooling resources would be a boon for the healthcare in the region.

Financial details of the deal weren't disclosed. The new board of directors met for the first time last week. Officials said in the release that the new group's annual budget at $1.1 billion. Integrating the four hospitals fully could take up to three years, and that layoffs are likely.

“Any reduction, however, will be significantly less than if we did not merge and had to face the coming changes as individual institutions,” a joint statement attributed to St. Peter's CEO Steve Boyle and President Jim Reed said.

The new St. Peter's Health Partners will employ 11,700 across more than 125 locations in New York, the press release added,