Officials finalize Health System-Pa. Hospital merger

Under the merger, announced in November 1996, the hospital will become a subsidiary of the Health System. After months of negotiations, officials recently finalized the terms of the merger between the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Pennsylvania Hospital. The merger was originally announced in November 1996. Pennsylvania Hospital, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1751, is the nation's oldest hospital. Under the agreement, Pennsylvania Hospital, located at Eighth and Spruce streets, will become a subsidiary of the University Health System, which already includes the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Presbyterian Hospital. This process will take between two and three years, according to Pennsylvania Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer John Ball. But although the hospital will remain a teaching hospital and continue to provide a wide range of medical services, the agreement ensures that it will come under the financial and operational control of the Health System, which may reallocate existing resources and services among its three hospitals. Health System Chief Executive Officer William Kelley said most specialized orthopedic programs currently housed at HUP and Presbyterian will move to Pennsylvania Hospital's Musculoskeletal Institute, which opened in July. All three sites will continue to provide basic orthopedic care, he added. Joint reconstruction and replacement, orthopedic-related cancer treatment, sports medicine and foot, ankle and hand surgery are among the procedures which will move to the hospital, Kelley said. The Musculoskeletal Institute will be staffed by 20 orthopedic experts from the Health System and Pennsylvania Hospital, and more physicians will be recruited from across the country. The Health System's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center will also be based at Pennsylvania Hospital. The center, which investigates the biological basis of neurological diseases and tests experimental medications, is currently located at HUP. The center was formerly affiliated with the Allegheny University Health System, and recently joined the Health System's Neurological Institute. Under the agreement, neurologists at the center will become faculty members in the University's Neurology Department, which consistently ranks among the top neurology departments in the country. Pennsylvania Hospital will continue to maintain its own staff, but the chairperson of each of its departments will be named a vice chairperson of the corresponding department in the Health System. The hospital will be governed by an 11-member board, nine of whom will be appointed by the Health System. Pennsylvania Hospital and HUP were academically affiliated until 1993, when Pennsylvania became affiliated with the Jefferson University Health System. Last year, however, Kelley and Ball signed a letter of intent restoring the strong relationship between the two institutions. And in choosing to join Penn's Health System last year, Pennsylvania Hospital turned down a similar offer from the Jefferson Health System at the time. With the addition of Pennsylvania Hospital, the number of Health System employees will rise to more than 18,000 employees. "Our separate heritage is to be proactive, and that will be our combined future," Kelley said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.