Dive Brief:
- Geisinger and St. Luke's University Health Network said Tuesday they are planning to build an 80-bed acute care hospital that will include an emergency department and a "full range of specialties and services" provided by clinicians from both nonprofit systems.
- The two systems work together frequently, including an insurance collaboration and an upcoming partnership that will see Geisinger providing St. Luke's with emergency helicopter service.
- A groundbreaking on the three-story hospital is planned in spring, and the systems expect it will open late next year.
Dive Insight:
The hospital will be located in Pennsylvania's Schuylkill County, where both St. Luke's and Geisinger Health System have existing facilities. The hospital will be the first in Pennsylvania to be built and co-owned by two healthcare systems.
"We know that many patients are leaving Schuylkill and Berks counties for hospital services," Geisinger CEO David Feinberg said in a press release. "Our growing partnership with St. Luke’s will not only expand the range of health care services in that community but perhaps, more importantly, will offer greater convenience" to patients in the region.
Geisinger announced two pilots earlier this month with York, PA-based transit service Rabbittransit to increase access to care for patients with difficulty getting to their medical and health-related appointments.
The nonprofit integrated health system continues to expand, counting partnerships with systems across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The organization, like rival nonprofit UPMC, reported an increase in net revenue growth for the first half of the fiscal year.
The announcement comes as a number of hospitals and health systems are looking toward mergers and partnerships with other hospitals to help weather disappointing financial trends.
The collaboration also marks continuous growth for St. Luke's, which has already merged with two smaller health systems this year.