Mount Sinai, Continuum combining to form largest system in N.Y.

Two big hospital players in New York reached an agreement to combine operations, creating a system that would be the city's largest.

The boards of Mount Sinai Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners, which includes Beth Israel Medical Center, voted to create a combined organization called Mount Sinai Health System in a transaction they expect to close this fall, pending regulatory approval.

The providers entered talks a year ago, abruptly ending negotiations between Continuum and NYU-Langone Medical Center.

Mount Sinai President and CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis will serve as president and CEO of the combined system, according to a news release announcing the deal. "The combination will create increased efficiencies and expand access to advanced primary and specialty care throughout this citywide system,” Davis said in the release. Continuum President and CEO Stanley Brezenoff plans to retire when the deal is done and serve as an adviser during the transition.

Mount Sinai Board Chairman Peter May would assume that role over the new system.

According to Continuum's website, the system's three hospitals—Beth Israel, St. Luke's Hospital and Roosevelt Hospital—bring in combined annual revenue in the neighborhood of $2.8 billion. Mount Sinai's revenue for the year that ended Dec. 31 was $1.8 billion, according to results reported to bondholders.

The city's long-reigning Goliath, New York Presbyterian Hospital, reported $3.8 billion in revenue in 2012.

The agreement calls for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to become the sole academic affiliation for the merged system, and all physicians and scientists affiliated with Continuum hospitals would assume appointments with Icahn, according to the release.

In the announcement, the organizations did not disclose any financial terms of the agreement or further governance and operational details.