University of Pennsylvania Health System and Doylestown Health sign definitive agreement
Bucks County system’s integration into UPHS will expand access to advanced health care for patients and families in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Celebrating the signing of the definitive agreement are, from left, Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System; Jonathan Epstein, interim executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine; Kathleen Krick, president of the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown; Marianne Chabot, chair of the boards at Doylestown Hospital and Doylestown Health Foundation and vice president of Health Services at Village Improvement Association of Doylestown; and Jim Brexler, president and CEO of Doylestown Health.
(Image: Carol Berman)
The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Doylestown Health signed a definitive agreement today for the Bucks County health system to become part of Penn Medicine, strengthening the two organizations’ shared commitment to delivering the most advanced, convenient and compassionate care to patients and families across the greater Philadelphia region.
Pending final federal and state approvals in the months ahead, the systems aim to integrate clinical care and operations by early 2025, as well as working to develop new programs and enhanced services across four sites of care—in hospitals, outpatient facilities, in the home, and via telemedicine. UPHS and Doylestown Health announced in January that they had signed a letter of intent to integrate.
“At Penn Medicine, we’re working to meet patients when and where they need us most,” said UPHS CEO Kevin B. Mahoney. “The integration of Doylestown Health into UPHS will enable us to expand access to care by providing leading-edge treatments and novel therapies—services that patients might have to travel far from home to receive—within their communities. Through this strategy, we join the best of Penn Medicine with the best of Doylestown Health to give patients as many convenient pathways as possible to outstanding care and support.”
Doylestown Health is a not-for-profit, clinically integrated network of care dedicated to excellence from childbirth to end-of-life. As the flagship of Doylestown Health, Doylestown Hospital provides access to leading specialists, advanced treatments, minimally invasive surgical procedures, clinical trials, and patient-centered care in state-of-the-art facilities.
“The joining of Doylestown Health into Penn Medicine will allow both organizations to provide the highest quality, cost-effective care, right where patients need it,” said Doylestown Health President and CEO, Jim Brexler. “In bringing together Doylestown Health’s unique brand of care delivered with compassion and expertise and the world-renowned, groundbreaking care that is synonymous with Penn Medicine, we strengthen each organization’s ability to provide the healthcare our communities need and deserve.”
Upon completion of the approved transaction, the two organizations will build upon their current collaborations. Penn Radiation Oncology at Doylestown, for instance, opened in 2011 and delivers care for more than 400 patients each year. For more than a decade, Doylestown Hospital has been part of the Penn Cancer Network, a select group of hospitals and physician practices throughout the greater Philadelphia region collaborating with Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center to provide expanded access to treatments and clinical trials.
Doylestown Hospital would become the seventh Penn Medicine hospital. In addition to its three Philadelphia hospitals—the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, and Pennsylvania Hospital—Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, and Princeton Health are part of UPHS, having joined in 2013, 2015, and 2018, respectively.
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