October 2021 – The Journal of Healthcare Contracting
Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, UT) and SCL Health have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to merge and create a health system that provides care to patients in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, and Kansas.
Under the LOI, while the organization will be named Intermountain Healthcare, SCL Health’s Catholic hospitals will retain their distinctive Catholic names and continue to operate according to existing practices. In addition to seven Catholic hospitals, SCL Health operates one secular hospital in Colorado.
The merged health system will be headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a regional office in Broomfield, Colorado.
Dr. Marc Harrison of Intermountain will serve as the president and CEO of the merged organization. Lydia Jumonville of SCL Health will remain in her current role during a two-year integration and serve as a board member on a new combined board to ensure the integration of the two systems.
Intermountain and SCL Health currently provide services in adjacent areas with no geographic overlap.
Upon completion of the merger, the combined system will employ more than 58,000 caregivers and operate 33 hospitals. It will run 385 clinics across six states and provide health insurance to about one million people.
The organizations expect to finalize and sign a definitive agreement by the end of 2021 and close the merger in early 2022.
“We’re excited to merge with SCL Health to usher in a new frontier for the health of communities throughout the Intermountain West and beyond,” said Marc Harrison, MD, president and CEO of Intermountain. “American healthcare needs to accelerate the evolution toward population health and value, and this merger will swiftly advance that cause across a broader geography. We’ll bring together the best practices of both organizations to do even more to enhance clinical excellence, transform the patient experience, and support healthy lives.”
“SCL Health and Intermountain are pursuing our merger from positions of strength,” said Lydia Jumonville, president and CEO of SCL Health. “We are two individually strong health systems that are seeking to increase care quality, accessibility, and affordability. We will advance our missions and better serve the entire region together.”
Both leaders reiterated that it is an extremely busy time for everyone in healthcare, especially given the resurgence of COVID-19. As the merger moves forward, the organizations will continue to maintain focus on caregiver and patient well-being as a top priority.