OSF HealthCare, an 11-hospital Catholic health care system serving Illinois and parts of Michigan, recently signed a letter of intent to take ownership of Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana and Presence United Samaritans Medical Center in Danville, Illinois.
According to an OSF HealthCare publicly released letter, “the two organizations are currently finalizing the agreement and will then seek all necessary regulatory and canonical approvals.”
Presence Covenant Medical Center in Urbana is a 201 bed Catholic hospital that, in 2011, merged with Resurrection Health Care to form Presence Health, the largest Catholic healthcare system in Illinois.
The building at 1400 W Park Street in Urbana has been a hospital for generations. It was founded as Mercy Hospital in 1919 prior to becoming part of the Provena Health System in 1997.
The OSF letter does not specifically address what, if any, impacts this merger will have on the partnerships that both Presence hospitals have established in their communities including those with medical education programs, local physicians groups, and others. However, Kevin Schoeplein, the CEO of OSF HealthCare says that the “OSF HealthCare team plans to reach out to other healthcare providers in [Urbana and Danville], as well as community members, local organizations, and business and municipal leaders to cultivate a collaborative relationship for the health of all in these communities.”
There will also be an electronic transition for the two organizations. OSF uses the EPIC electronic medical records system whereas Presence uses a system called Meditech. As with many modern hospital and clinic mergers, the two will need to merge their electronic patient records into a single system.
According to the letter released on the OSF website, the proposed sale is expected to be finalized in early 2018.