Aria Health, the three-hospital system based in Northeast Philadelphia, is seeking proposals from potential merger or alliance partners, Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Formerly known as Frankford Health System, Aria Health operates hospital branches in the Torresdale and Frankford sections of Philadelphia, as well as in the Oxford Valley section of Bucks County.
“Aria Health officials are engaged in a process to explore a possible strategic partnership with another hospital, health system or hospital company," the organization told Philadelphia Business Journal in a statement.
"With the sweeping changes in the healthcare industry, nationally and in the Philadelphia region, the Aria Health Board of Directors believes it is our responsibility to explore all options to enhance our services and better meet the future needs of the communities we serve."
Philadelphia Business Journal suggests Trinity Health as a logical suitor for geographic reasons.
Trinity, a national Catholic Health System that operates St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne; St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton; and Lourdes Health System, which has hospitals in Camden and Willingboro, N.J. Trinity Health — created by the 2013 merger of Catholic Health East in Newtown Square, Pa., and Trinity Health of Livonia, Mich. — is also the parent company for Mercy Health System in Conshohocken, Pa.; and St. Francis Healthcare in Wilmington, Del.
At this point, Aria Health said it has not made a definite decision to partner with a particular organization, but it hopes to make a decision by late summer.
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