The ink is now drying on an agreement signed today that merges Meridian Health and Raritan Bay Health Services.
This agreement, after about seven months of negotiations and due diligence, has been approved by the Meridian Board of Trustees and Raritan Bay Health Service Corporation, which owns and operates two Raritan Bay Medical Center facilities in Old Bridge and Perth Amboy, said John Lloyd, Meridian’s president in an interview.
Meridian’s facilities, which includes among others Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center; Jersey Shore University Medical Center and K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital, both in Neptune; Ocean Medical Center, Brick; Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin and Bayshore Community Hospital, Holmdel; draws patients primarily from Monmouth and Ocean counties. Raritan Bay, with facilities in Old Bridge and Perth Amboy treat patients from Middlesex and more northern sections of New Jersey.
This merger will allow those who had traditionally sought out the services of Raritan Bay to draw upon what would be available—such as more extensive oncology and cardiac treatment—from Meridian’s network, explained Lloyd and Michael D’Agnes, Raritan Bay Medical Center’s president.
“There is no doubt that this merger gives us the opportunity to offer innovative, patient-centered health care services to a broader region while letting us share significant population health management expertise with Raritan Bay,” Lloyd said.
It is increasingly difficult for independent medical facilities to compete in the current health care environment and against larger groups, Lloyd said. And D’Agnes acknowledged his facilities have been struggling financially for the last approximately six years.
The merger still has to be approved by the state Office of Attorney General under the state’s Community Health Care Assets Protection Act (CHAPA). That is expected to take about six to nine months, according to Lloyd.
In addition to this development, Meridian is nearing completion in its talks to merge with Hackensack University Health Network, in northern New Jersey, according to Lloyd.
“Through care coordination and clinical integration, we will help individuals understand their risk of illness and customize prevention and treatment strategies that will serve our communities well,” said Lloyd.
–By John Burton
Read the whole story in The Two River Times, on sale Friday.
