by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | January 05, 2023
Excela Health and Butler Health System have completed their merger.
Excela Health and Butler Health System toasted New Year’s Day by completing their planned $1 billion merger and becoming a five-hospital system with the capacity to care for about 750,000 patients throughout Western Pennsylvania.
While a new name has not yet been chosen, the combined health system employs 7,300 employees and over 1,000 physicians and practitioners, who will be led by Ken DeFurio, the former president and CEO of Butler Health System.
Jon Sphon, the former CEO of Excela Health, will retire in March but stay on as an advisory trustee for several months and also as a trustee.
“It is important to underscore that a merger process of this magnitude is very complex and requires an approach that is highly thoughtful and diligent. We can now continue our focus on integrated governance, executive structure and other elements that are key to effective and efficient delivery of care,” said DeFurio in a statement.
The merger was
announced in November and is expected to improve access to care, reduce healthcare costs and improve health outcomes as well as accelerate the competitiveness of both systems in the regional marketplace by providing more scale.
Made up of Butler Memorial Hospital and Clarion Hospital, Butler Health System is an independent community health system in Western Pennsylvania and employs 3,000 people and more than 270 providers. It is the largest employer in Butler County and the largest healthcare employer in Clarion County.
It also has nationally recognized quality care in cardiology, palliative care and maternity as well as a broad range of surgical, medical, emergency, and psychiatric services in addition to its primary health services.
Excela Health is a 578-bed, tertiary-based health system in Westmoreland County that comprises Westmoreland Hospital, Latrobe Hospital and Frick Hospital. It serves over 23,000 inpatients, 700,000 outpatients and 100,000 emergency visits annually, and employs more than 700 physicians and allied health professionals and 4,300 employees.
It also is a regional leader in clinical areas, including cardiovascular disease, orthopedics, maternity care, and emergency medicine.
Sphon and DeFurio will hold a news conference in the near future to discuss more details about the new healthcare system.
