ERIE — Saint Vincent Health System in Erie is now officially part of a hospital network assembled by Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark Inc.

The parties announced the deal in October and Saint Vincent Chief Executive Scott Whalen said the affiliation became official July 1.

The deal means Saint Vincent is now part of the Allegheny Health Network including the West Penn Allegheny Health System in and around Pittsburgh and the Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pittsburgh’s South Hills suburbs.

Saint Vincent’s name won’t change as part of the deal which Highmark is giving the hospital $20 million to bolster its finances and $5 million to support capital improvements supporting the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania.

BlackBerry name change approvedWATERLOO, Ontario — Research In Motion has won formal approval to change its name to BlackBerry.The Canadian company announced plans for the name change in January, when it unveiled new phones running a revamped operating system called BlackBerry 10. The company hopes the new devices will be more competitive with iPhones and Android devices.Since January, Research In Motion Ltd. has been going by BlackBerry in marketing materials. It has also changed its ticker symbol to “BBRY.” But a legal name change required shareholders’ approval.