Keith A. Hovan, president and CEO of New Bedford, Mass.-based Southcoast Health System, says Southcoast's pending merger with Providence, R.I.-based Care New England Health System would be "the creation of a new entity," according to the Boston Business Journal.
The merger would combine Southcoast's four hospitals — Fall River, Mass.-based Charlton Memorial Hospital, New Bedford, Mass.-based St. Luke's Hospital, Wareham, Mass.-based Tobey Hospital and Dartmouth, Mass.-based Southcoast Behavioral Health — and combine them with Care New England's four hospitals — Providence, R.I.-based Butler Hospital, Warwick, R.I.-based Kent Hospital, Pawtucket, R.I.-based Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island and Providence, R.I.-based Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.
If all goes through, the new entity would become one of the biggest nonprofit health systems in New England. Mr. Hovan told the Boston Business Journal the systems are planning to complete the transaction in 2016. The attorney generals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts as well as the FTC have to approve the proposed merger.
Though the systems may look to merge under a parent company, Mr. Hovan said the Southcoast-Care New England merger would be "something different" than the merger between Boston-based Tufts Medical Center and Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital in 2014. Tufts and Lowell combined to create Burlington, Mass.-based Wellforce.
"[W]hat we're talking about is something that gets us further down the road," said Mr. Hovan. "I'm not privy to the documents and agreements ... Lowell and Tufts put together, but I can tell you what we're contemplating is something that creates a single entity, ultimately probably having to combine credit."