Letter of intent outlines additional terms of Independence Health/WVU Medicine merger
A letter of intent outlines additional terms of the proposed merger between Independence Health System and West Virginia University Health System.
The letter of intent, posted to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s Economic Municipal Market Access website, is dated Wednesday, Nov. 19, the same day the proposed merger was publicly announced during a news conference at Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. It is signed by Albert Wright, CEO of WVU Medicine.
Under the terms of the non-binding letter of intent, WVU Medicine would become the “sole member” of Independence Health System and would gain general control over all of its assets. These include Butler Memorial and four other hospitals, as well as various other inpatient facilities across Western Pennsylvania.
One of the terms of the letter stipulates that, upon completion of the transaction, WVU Medicine would contribute “a minimum” of $600 million in strategic capital investments over a five-year period, including $80 million toward the installation of a new electronic health records system from Epic Systems.
A joint news release on Wednesday from Independence Health and WVU Medicine stated the latter would contribute $800 million.
Another stipulation was that WVU Medicine would maintain employees in good standing for one year subject to performance, honor the terms of physician contracts and retain all staff members in good standing.
Finally, after the completion of the transaction, the board for Independence Health System will add one voting representative appointed by WVU Medicine and otherwise remain unchanged. These terms extend to the separate boards for Butler Health System and Excela Health — the two components that merged to make Independence Health in 2023 — as well as the boards of all five individual hospitals that make up Independence Health System.
