Northwell Health and Nuvance Health plan to merge into a regional integrated health system in New York and Connecticut. The two organizations combined will have 14,500 providers and more than 1,000 sites of care, including 28 hospitals, if the deal gets then needed regulatory approvals.
Based in New Hyde Park, N.Y., Northwell Health is New York State’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, about 900 outpatient facilities and more than 12,000 affiliated physicians.
Headquartered in Danbury, Conn., Nuvance owns hospitals and outpatient facilities throughout the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut, including Danbury Hospital and its New Milford campus, Norwalk Hospital and Sharon Hospital in Connecticut; Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in New York.
Hearst Connecticut Media reported that Nuvance lost $150 million last year, and quoted John Murphy, M.D., president and CEO of Nuvance, as saying the 2023 loss was a main reason leaders of the Danbury-based health system agreed to join Northwell.
“It’s understandable that there is going to be some anxiety because this is a big deal with upsides and downsides,” Murphy told Hearst Connecticut Media. “This is a tough environment, and if you do nothing and continue to operate at a loss, that is not good.”
The Hearst story notes that Nuvance itself was created just in 2019 by the merger of a health system that ran Danbury, Norwalk and New Milford hospitals with a smaller network that ran Sharon Hospital and three hospitals in New York.
Northwell said it would make significant investments in Nuvance Health, and that local communities would have access to coordinated care across western Connecticut, the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island, the two organizations said.
“This partnership opens a new and exciting chapter for Northwell and Nuvance Health and provides an incredible opportunity to enhance both health systems and take patient care and services to an even higher level,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, in a statement. “We have similar missions in providing high-quality care for patients in the communities we serve. We look forward to building on the care that Nuvance Health’s 14,000 staff members and providers deliver each and every day.”
The two organizations said the agreement would increase the opportunity to attract and retain top talent, including physicians, nurses, surgical and research specialists as well as allied health and business professionals.
