Geisinger Health System mergers approved

Sept. 24--DANVILLE -- Two mergers involving the Geisinger Health System have received approval, Geisinger Authority members learned on Wednesday.

The state Office of Attorney General has given the OK for the merger of the Danville Ambulance Service with Geisinger affiliate Holy Spirit EMS, said Geisinger Health System lead counsel Dave Felicio.

In another merger, the New Jersey Superior Court approved an agreement on Sept. 16 for AtlantiCare health system, Atlantic City, N.J., to become a member of the Geisinger Health System, said Kevin Brennan, Geisinger's executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer.

Brennan also told the authority what was reported at Geisinger's public board meeting a week ago, that the Geisinger system received $4.5 billion in annual revenues last year. He said $228 million in capital was reinvested. Overall, Brennan said, Geisinger had an $8.9 billion economic impact, and its tax-exempt entities provided $463 million in community benefits, in the region Geisinger covers.

On the ambulance merger, Felicio said a clearance letter has been received and the closing is set for midnight on Sept. 30. The merger goes into effect on Oct. 1, making the more than 60-year-old emergency medical service with one station part of the much larger Holy Spirit system.

The Danville Ambulance Service employs 12 full-time emergency medical technicians, nine full-time paramedics and part-time EMTs and 11 volunteers, including a registered nurse and a physician who serves as medical director. West Shore Advanced Life Support Services Inc., which does business as Holy Spirit EMS, based in Camp Hill, employs 150. Of those, 56 are EMTs and 62 are paramedics. The service operates out of 11 stations that serve Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Perry and northern York counties, utilizing 35 vehicles.

An agreement to merge was signed on July 14, but the agreement had to be filed with the state attorney general's office for regulatory approval.

The closing for the integration of AtlantiCare into Geisinger is scheduled for Oct. 1, Brennan said.

AtlantiCare and Geisinger signed a letter of intent in November 2013 and a definitive agreement in May 2014.

Under the terms of the agreement, Geisinger will invest $62.5 million in AtlantiCare over five years, and AtlantiCare will institute some of Geisinger's treatment models, according to information provided by Geisinger. Those treatment models include an electronic records portal for patients to read their doctors' notes. The Geisinger Health Plan also will serve patients in New Jersey.

Representatives from each organization will sit on the AtlantiCare and Geisinger Health System Foundation boards of directors, according to Brennan.

AtlantiCare's more than 5,200 employees and 700 physicians serve nearly 70 locations. Geisinger serves more than 2.6 million residents throughout 44 counties in Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. The physician-led system employs more than 21,000 employees and includes eight hospital campuses, two research centers and the 467,000-member Geisinger Health Plan.

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