Penn State Health plans to acquire CHI hospital, and other news

Penn State Health is one step closer to acquiring another in-state hospital. Pennsylvania State University's board of trustees has approved plans for the acquisition of St. Joseph Regional Health Network from Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives.

The proposal for acquiring the single-hospital system based in Reading will be submitted to the Pennsylvania attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission for approval. The deal, which was approved by CHI's board in December, also must be authorized by the Vatican.

St. Joseph and State College-based Penn State Health formed a clinical relationship in 2010, allowing the academic medical system to provide specialty care for adult and pediatric patients from the region, including cancer care, high-risk obstetrics and neurological treatment. Penn State also opened a pediatric multispecialty practice on St. Joseph's Bern Township campus in 2011. It added vascular surgery services in 2013.

Officials on both sides of the deal said it was important to give St. Joseph Regional patients better access to subspecialty care, while allowing Penn State to better manage health across the region.

Stony Brook (N.Y.) University Hospital and not-for-profit Southampton (N.Y.) Hospital are closer to a merger that has been three years in the making. The deal represents a step toward creating an accountable care organization that includes both facilities, hospital officials said.

The State University of New York board of trustees, which oversees Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine, voted unanimously to allow the merger agreement to move forward. Needed next is approval by state authorities, including the attorney general and the comptroller.

If the merger is approved, Southampton, a community hospital, will operate under Stony Brook's New York state operating license. The state health department also will need to approve the transfer of Southampton's licensed beds to Stony Brook's license. Southampton's parent, the Southampton Hospital Association, will continue to employ the hospital's workforce and maintain current labor agreements.

The two hospitals have been formally affiliated since 2008. In August 2012, the hospitals signed a nonbinding letter of intent to add Southampton to the Stony Brook Medicine system. Stony Brook's medical school already has joint clinical and academic programs with Southhampton Hospital.

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