East Stroudsburg, PA – Pocono Health System (PHS) and Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) announced in late may that they have signed a letter of intent to merge, subject to due diligence, the negotiation of definitive transaction documents, and appropriate regulatory approvals. The Boards of Directors of both organizations, in separate meetings, authorized the letter of intent.
“We believe that the residents of the Poconos region will greatly benefit from the merger of these two longstanding, high-quality healthcare systems,” said Jeff Snyder, President and CEO of PHS. The combination of our two organizations will mean that Poconos residents will have greater access to the highest-quality clinical care in the region, the most qualified and capable physician network supported by the most sophisticated technology and advanced health records systems, all delivered locally through PMC, while being supported by the resources and scale of Lehigh Valley Health Network.”
Brian Nester, DO, MBA, FACOEP, LVHN’s President and CEO, said the two organizations have a long history of productive partnerships in certain clinical areas, such as the affiliation to provide trauma and radiation oncology services to the region. He said together as a single, integrated system, they will accelerate steps to develop and grow to bring additional, affordable healthcare services to best serve the community.
“We look forward to developing with PMC a hospital of the future that incorporates the highest level of clinical competence to provide the highest quality care close to home.” Nester said in addition, LVHN looks forward to the opportunity to provide more integrated care to the Poconos region through population health management, which includes sharing a common electronic medical records system.
Pending completion of due diligence and regulatory approvals, the parties expect the proposed merger to take effect in the first half of 2016.