The Butler Health System and the Beaver County-based Heritage Valley Health System have submitted a joint proposal to merge with the Jameson Health System, according to the Lawrence County commissioners.

Commissioners Robert Del Signore and Dan Vogler, board chairman, said they are aware of the offer from Butler and Heritage Valley, but they do not have information regarding the specifics of the proposal.

Butler Health System officials declined to discuss the bid, and a spokesman said the hospital was not part of ongoing negotiations with Jameson.

“We are not participating in Jameson's process at this time,” said Jana Panther, director of marketing.

Heritage Valley officials in Beaver County did not return multiple messages seeking comment on the bid.

Jameson officials said confidentiality agreements prevented them from discussing any of the bids, and a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, which is overseeing the bid review process, declined to discuss the matter.

“It would be premature to get into specifics,” said Jeffrey Johnson, the attorney general office's spokesman.

Information about Jameson's rebid process has been tightly controlled since this summer after state officials from the attorney general's office refused in June to approve an already-signed merger between Jameson and UPMC.

Jameson has said that financial struggles spurred its decision to seek the partnership. UPMC would have assumed $40 million in long-term debt as part of the deal, as well as $15 million in outstanding pension obligations.

The office denied that merger, saying it was concerned that a Jameson-UPMC partnership, valued at $80 million, would control too much of the in-patient health care market in Lawrence County.

State officials told Jameson to seek additional bids.

In October Jameson officials announced they had received and reviewed three bids, calling them insufficient. State officials disagreed, and the hospital subsequently pledged to continue negotiations with the bidders, which it declined to name.

Del Signore said he believes the UPMC proposal, which expires on Dec. 31, is still the front-runner for Jameson.