One evening last summer, Abington Health CEO Larry Merlis sat down with Dr. Stephen Klasko, his counterpart at Jefferson in Philadelphia, to discuss the future of health care.
Today, the two health care giants have merged to form a single organization.
“This is just a fantastic day,” Klasko said Monday during a meeting with staff at Jefferson. “Today, Abington and Jefferson are one.”
Seven months after the two systems announced formal plans to investigate a merger, Abington Health and Jefferson have combined to become Jefferson Health. It’s now one of the largest health care providers in the region, with 19,000 employees — including 3,370 doctors and 2,842 nurses — and almost $3 billion in revenue. It operates five hospitals: Abington Memorial Hospital and Abington-Lansdale Hospital in Montgomery County, and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Jefferson Hospital for Neurosciences and Methodist Hospital, all in Philadelphia.
It also operates nine outpatient centers and four urgent care centers. Thomas Jefferson University, which includes the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, the Jefferson Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy, Population Health, and the Jefferson Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, also will be part of the new organization.
The merger, officials from both organizations said, represents a “reimagining” of health care and the way it’s delivered to patients, leveraging technology and physical presence to care for patients wherever they may be.
“We coined a new term, called hub and hub,” said Klasko, CEO of the new organization. “How can we bring the best of both worlds to where the patient is? We want people to define us by our care, by our staff, by our doctors, not where they have to travel.”
Jefferson has been a leader in telemedicine and “virtual rounds,” a program that allows family members to participate in doctor’s rounds in real time. Those programs will soon debut at Abington, which also plans to create a cancer center capitalizing on the strengths of Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.
“We already have teams working together, leveraging our experience, our skills and our expertise on joint projects that will bring that vision to life,” said Merlis, now chief operating officer of Jefferson Health. “The intent is to create value that is greater than the sum of our parts.”
While the new organization has taken Jefferson’s name, both systems will have equal representation on its board, which will also include two new members who are not connected with either Abington or Jefferson. In addition, the chief medical officers of both hospitals — Dr. Anne Docimo at Jefferson and Dr. John Kelly at Abington — will remain in those positions, and take on equal leadership roles at the new organization.
Chief operating officers Meg McGoldrick at Abington and Richard Webster at Jefferson have been named president of their respective hospitals.
“Some said this merger wasn’t going to happen,” said Stephen Crane, vice chairman and chairman-elect of the new Jefferson Health board of trustees. “Many said it wouldn’t happen in six months. But it’s this cultural alignment that will ensure the future success as we continue to provide the best academic training to our students and the best care to our communities.”
Source: http://ift.tt/1c0XXWD
from health IT caucus http://ift.tt/1F3XqjM
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment