Catholic Health Services of Long Island, based in Rockville Centre, N.Y., and St. John's Episcopal Hospital, of Far Rockaway, N.Y., have joined together to acquire a combined 50% stake in Westbury, N.Y.-based Beacon Health Partners, an independent physician network. CHS is taking a 45.5% interest in Beacon while St. John's acquires a 4.5% interest in the network.
The partnership will allow the parties involved to provide more integrated care, officials said. As a part of the deal, Beacon will add to its network more than 350 physicians from CHS' physician-hospital organization with a goal of expanding its network to include over 1,000 doctors.
Terry O'Brien, CHS senior vice president for strategy and business development, who negotiated the deal for CHS, said the companies hope to eventually serve more than 250,000 people in ACO-like agreements with Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payers.
Dr. Alan Guerci, CHS' president and CEO, said in an interview that Beacon is “led by elite clinicians who have a vision for the future and the management skills to make it happen.” As a result of the deal, CHS and St. John's Episcopal representatives will constitute half of Beacon's 22-seat board, while independent physicians will make up the rest.
The deal will allow Beacon to offer better human resources and information technology services to its contract physicians, which will result in larger shared savings bonuses, and more attractive, value-based contracts, said Dr. Simon Prince, president and CEO of Beacon.
The transaction puts Beacon in a better position for geographic expansion in the coming years, Prince said.
“But right now we are keenly set on executing locally in Long Island,” he added.
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