Two Philadelphia-based not-for-profit health systems have agreed to merge. Einstein Healthcare Network and Jefferson Health System signed a definitive agreement on September 14, following their letter of intent signing in March 2018.
Einstein is a leading healthcare sytem with approximately 1,000 beds. It includes Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia (548 beds), Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, and Einstein Medical Center Elkins Park, as well as MossRehab, an inpatient rehabilitation hospital, and Willowcrest, a skilled nursing facility.
Jefferson Health provides primary to highly-specialized care through 14 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient and urgent care locations, the NCI-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and the JeffConnect telemedicine program.
The agreement extends the shared governance model that was established with the integration of previous healthcare organizations when merging with Jefferson. The agreement details that Einstein will designate an equal number of members to the expanded Thomas Jefferson University board, and will have the same representation as its other health systems, Abington – Jefferson Health, Jefferson Health – Northeast and Jefferson Health – New Jersey.
Jefferson has completed at least 10 transactions in the past 22 years, beginning with Philadelphia-based Methodist Hospital (156 beds) in September 1996, when it merged with Jefferson’s academic medical center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Three mergers were announced in 2016, adding Aria Healthcare‘s three acute-care hospitals (485 beds) in the northeast corner of Philadelphia, southern New Jersey-based Kennedy Health and its three acute-care hospitals (607 beds) and the specialty hospital Rothman Orthopaedic (24 beds) in suburban Bensalem.