HUP, local hospital will merge

Follows national trend The University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and Health System and the Presbyterian Medical Center announced Friday that they will merge within the next year. Although Presbyterian has existed for 125 years, there has been much talk over the years of a union of the two hospitals. The deal was sealed Friday with the signing of a letter of intent. The actual merger will not take place for at least three to six months, according to William Kelley, the chief executive officer of the University Medical Center and dean of the School of Medicine. "We've been flirting for 125 years and now we're finally getting married," University Medical Center spokesperson Rebecca Harmon said. The name of the merged hospital has not yet been decided, Kelley said. Presbyterian President Donald Snook said he did not believe that Presbyterian would be dropped from the new name. Snook said that changing times in the medical field have made the merger imperative. "It isn't reasonable, nor is it prudent, nor should any hospital go into the future standing alone," Snook said. "It's just not responsible. "This hospital and its mission is going to stay in West Philadelphia and continue to serve 125 years and you can't do that alone," he added. The joining of the University Medical Center and Presbyterian follows a nationwide trend in which many smaller hospitals are merging with larger institutions. Snook said the merger plans have been discussed for the past 35 years. Kelley added that although the University Medical Center and Presbyterian have always dreamed of merging, until recently the possibility of actually signing a deal was sketchy. The Scheie Eye Institute, located at Presbyterian, has housed the University's department of ophthalmology since 1972. "The merger we announce today is of a scope seen only by the best visionaries of those past days," Kelley said. "This merger is proper and appropriate for the 1990s and beyond." And James O'Dell, chairperson of Presbyterian's Board of Trustees, said both parties -- as well as the community -- will fare well in the merger. "It's good for Presbyterian," O'Dell said. "It's good for the University of Pennsylvania and its Health System. Most [importantly], it's good for the people of West Philadelphia and to the broader community." The merged hospital system will offer an increased focus on care for the elderly. The University and Presbyterian will form a joint venture company to own and manage nursing homes and to increase the number of beds available in the Philadelphia area. The merger will also consolidate many of the programs and services performed at the two hospitals, cutting costs and making the system more efficient, Kelley said. Some of the services rendered at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania will move to Presbyterian, and vice versa. The two hospitals -- which are among the busiest in the city, according to Snook -- have competed for patients in the past. But Snook said the merger ends any type of rivalry. "This a shaking of the hands that says 'No more competition, we're working cooperatively together,' " he added. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, a member of Presbyterian's Board of Trustees, said she "never, never" expected a merger between the two hospitals. Blackwell added that she has seen a dramatic shift in the University's relationship with the local community with President Judith Rodin's administration. "Penn, since Dr. Rodin has come aboard has just been great in its community-outreach concerns," Blackwell said.