After six months of speculation, University Hospitals has announced that it will integrate two Ohio community hospitals into its system. University Hospitals has received final business formation approval from state and federal regulators to move forward with the integration of Parma Community General Hospital and EMH Healthcare in Elyria. The CEO of University Hospitals said it plans to make significant investments in the two hospitals’ facilities, services and technologies so that they can provide superior care to their respective communities.
There had been speculation about a possible integration of the two hospitals since last summer. In early August, it was announced that University Hospitals would open a branch of its Seidman Cancer Center at Parma Community. There was an earlier announcement that University Hospitals was providing prenatal care at the hospital. Although University Hospital was working with Parma and EMH, both hospitals had operated independently.
As a result of the integration, both hospitals will change their names. Parma Community will become University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. EMH will change its name to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. There was no word as to when the integration will take effect.
Mergers and acquisitions are important parts of business success, but they can also be highly complex. When two organizations merge, they often have to work out numerous technical details, such as which employees will be maintained and in what capacity, how corporate policies will be aligned and how assets will be combined or possibly sold. An experienced business attorney could advise a business on how to proceed in a merger or acquisition. The attorney could then represent the business’s interests in any subsequent negotiations.
Source: Crain’s Cleveland Business, “Six months later, University Hospitals finalizes mergers with Parma Community, EMH Healthcare“, December 27, 2013