Adventist Health explores merger

    Adventist Health System, the parent company of the Florida Hospital in Orlando and six other campuses in Central Florida, and Tampa-based University Community Health have signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore a possible merger of the two healthcare systems, writes the Orlando Sentinel, siting an announcement on the Adventist Web site.
   The merger would increase access to physicians and medical specialists as well as become part of the largest Protestant healthcare system in the nation.
   "It is too early in the due diligence process to share any concrete details," Mike Schultz, president and chief executive officer of Adventist Health System's Florida region said in a press release. "What I can confirm is that both systems are focused on uninterrupted quality care to our patients and dedicated to the service of our employees."
Sentinel story here.
    Adventist and University Community Health formed a joint venture in February 2007 to build the Wesley Chapel Medical Center in Pasco County, and the strength of that relationship prompted the Boards of both organizations to explore full merger possibilities, according to an Adventist release about the possible merger. Four months later, the Agency for Health Care Administration approved the proposal to create an 80-bed community hospital in Wesley Chapel. Since that time, the two health care systems have worked closely to plan and implement better approaches to patient care and to increase community outreach.

    The non-binding letter of intent allows both boards to explore additional ways to take this successful partnership to a new level, according to the press release.
     Founded in 1973, Adventist Health System has grown to become the largest non-profit Protestant healthcare provider in the nation. Adventist Health System currently supports 37 hospitals and employs 50,000 workers.
     The hospitals of University Community Health are University Community Hospital, UCH-Carrolwood and Pepin Heart Hospital in Tampa, Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital in Tarpon Springs, and the Long Term Acute Care Hospital in central Pasco County.