Butler Health and Excela Sign Letter of Intent to Form New Health System

Officials at Butler Health System and Excela Health today announced they have signed a Letter of Intent to combine their respective organizations into a new health system serving western Pennsylvania.

“We believe strongly that our new partnership will extend our intellectual and financial capital. In doing so, we can enhance access to care, decrease the cost of care and continue to focus on providing improved experiences and outcomes for patients, “said John Sphon, Chief Executive Officer at Excela.

“The new System will provide additional services and better access to those services,” added Ken DeFurio, President and Chief Executive Officer at Butler Health System. “We are pleased that this partnership amplifies our ability to provide tertiary care, yet remain physician led and community focused.”

Both Sphon and DeFurio emphasized that the combined organization will present the requisite scale to accelerate and elevate its relevancy and essentiality in the region’s highly competitive healthcare marketplace.

When finalized, the new health system would generate over $1 billion in revenue, employ approximately 7,300 people, and have over 1,000 physicians and practitioners that serve a population of 750,000. This combination will support 5 hospitals which includes Butler, Clarion, Frick, Latrobe and Westmoreland Hospitals.

Sphon and DeFurio highlighted that Butler and Excela are culturally aligned, share deep mutual respect, and a common vision on national and regional industry transformation. “Our alignment on these important elements of a partnership will provide great value as we move forward,” Sphon commented.

Sphon and DeFurio emphasized that more specific details of the new entity will be agreed upon and move forward through mutual agreements as the definitive documents are completed. Topics such as leadership and new system name will be determined. Remaining discussions, required regulatory approval and final board approvals could take through the end of 2022.

Terri Petrick and Tim Morgus, the Board Chairs of Excela and Butler respectively, voiced their organizations’ mutual enthusiasm regarding the creation of the joint health system. “Our Boards believe we have the opportunity to create a new paradigm of care in western Pennsylvania.” (Continued)

About Butler Health System

Located in the rolling hills of Western, PA, Butler Health System (BHS) consists of two hospitals, Butler Memorial Hospital (Butler, PA) and Clarion Hospital (Clarion, PA). It has remained an independent community health system for over a century and continues to grow to meet the needs of Butler, Clarion and the surrounding communities. BHS has over 70 outpatient locations, employs 3,000 people and over 270 providers, making it the largest employer in Butler County and the largest healthcare employer in Clarion County.

BHS offers patient’s access to nationally recognized quality care in cardiology, palliative care, and maternity as well a broad range of surgical, medical, emergency, and psychiatric services. In addition to its primary health services, Butler Health System has many partnerships throughout Western Pennsylvania that include Bridges Health Partners, Benbrook Ambulatory Surgery Center, UPMC Cancer Center, BHS FasterCare, Concordia Visiting Nurses, Good Samaritan Hospice, and LIFE Butler County with Lutheran Senior Life.

To learn more, visit www.ButlerHealthSystem.org

About Excela Health

Excela Health, a 578-bed, tertiary-based health System in Westmoreland County, PA, includes three hospitals – Excela Westmoreland Hospital, Excela Latrobe Hospital and Excela Frick Hospital – and serves more than 23,000 inpatients, 700,000 outpatients and 100,000 emergency visits annually. With more than 700 physicians and allied health professionals and 4,300 employees, Excela is a regional leader in clinical areas such as Cardiovascular Disease, Orthopedics and Emergency Medicine.

The System has received recognition by U.S. News & World Report in its list of top-ranked regional hospitals and achieved Magnet Recognition®, the highest honor for nursing professionalism and superior patient care given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

To learn more, visit www.ExcelaHealth.org