August 09, 2016
Wikipedia /Source
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia.
Jefferson Health and Kennedy Health entered into a binding definitive agreement Tuesday morning, bringing its merger one step closer to completion.
A press conference, featuring leadership from both health care providers, was held to announce the signing of the agreement. The boards of both health systems unanimously approved the signing.
. @KennedyHealth Pres & CEO Joe Devine welcomes the crowd to the Definitive Agreement signing. #ItCanBeDone pic.twitter.com/I4U0SA51QT
— Jefferson Hospitals (@TJUHospital) August 9, 2016
The partnership between the Philadelphia-based Jefferson, which has four hospitals in Philadelphia and one in Voorhees, Camden County, and Kennedy, which has hospitals in Cherry Hill, Stratford and Washington Township, aims to provide better care for more patients in South Jersey.
“The integration of Kennedy into Jefferson strengthens our distinct approach to reimagining patient care throughout Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, ensuring that high-quality health care is available right in the community,” Dr. Stephen Klasko, the president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, said in a news release.
“Kennedy Health, under Joe Devine’s leadership, is one of the great success stories in New Jersey, best exemplified by their recent A grade from Leapfrog for quality and safety,” Klasko added in the statement.
Kennedy’s workforce is expected to remain the same.
Its President and CEO Joseph W. Devine will join the combined company as an executive vice president, focusing on the hospitals’ growth strategy and service expansion in New Jersey.
The agreement outlined plans for Kennedy to expand its Cherry Hill and Washington Township campuses and stated it will maintain its academic and clinical affiliation with the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine.
“Kennedy and Jefferson share a common culture of commitment to our patients, physicians and employees,” Devine said in a statement. “This transaction will benefit the residents of southern New Jersey by bringing together enhanced clinical services in the communities we serve. As we transform health care across the region, the focus will be on continuing to provide highly personalized, high-quality health care in convenient settings close to home.”
The next step in the process is for both sides to file for all necessary regulatory reviews and approvals.
Jefferson’s planned merger with Kennedy will make it the third partnership it has been involved with in less than two years. Jefferson completed a merger with Abington Health in May 2015, then completed a merger with Aria Health in July.
In between the two, Jefferson and Kennedy signed a letter of intent in January to announce the idea of the current merger.
Jefferson’s current plans moving forward with Kennedy, however, brought an end to another partnership with a South Jersey-based health care provider.
After the definitive agreement was made official, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that Inspira Health Network cut ties with Jefferson. Inspira’s President and CEO John DiAngelo alleged that Jefferson’s intent to merge with Kennedy was a breach of a previous agreement between the two health care providers that dates back to the beginning of 2015.
