Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health are moving forward with a plan to join as a single health system called OHSU Health that was announced in August 2023. The combined system will have 12 hospitals, more than 100 locations and around 30,000 employees and More than 3 million patient visits a year.
OHSU is part of the State of Oregon, established in Oregon law as a public corporation. Legacy is a local nonprofit health system that had been struggling financially, according to news reports.
In the coming months, OHSU and Legacy Health will submit an application to the State of Oregon’s Health Care Market Oversight (HCMO) Program, which reviews certain commercial health care transactions in Oregon. This program, established by the Legislature in 2021, “reviews proposed trade agreements to ensure they help and do not harm Oregon’s shared goals of health equity, lower consumer costs, increased access and better care. The program applies to mergers, acquisitions and other business agreements that involve healthcare entities and meet certain criteria.”
Once the HCMO application is submitted, the state regulatory review process will begin.
“Our agreement with OHSU is an important milestone toward creating a stronger health system better able to care for our patients, our people and our communities,” Legacy Health Board Chairman Charles Wilhoite said in a statement. release. “After many months of careful collaboration between our organizations, we believe this is the right next step to create important opportunities to improve the health of our region for many years to come.”
“Right now, increased demand and capacity restrictions are preventing patients in the region from accessing the services that OHSU Health is uniquely able to provide,” said OHSU President Danny Jacobs, MD, MPH, in a statement. “As a single, integrated system, we can better ensure patients receive the right level of care at the right facility without having to travel out of the region, whether it’s complex cancer care in Marquam Hill or behavioral health treatment in Northeast Portland.”
“With expanded opportunities and an improved system from which to grow our shared future as OHSU Health, the expanded health system will stabilize and grow in the innovative services, tools and technologies essential to caring for people by our integrated teams.” , and will allow us to continue training the next generation of physicians, scientists and educators,” OHSU Board of Trustees Chairman Wayne Monfries said in a statement. “We are excited about what we can accomplish for our communities.”
With an OHSU capital commitment of approximately $1 billion over 10 years, funded primarily through bond offerings, the integrated system will make investments in care infrastructure to improve the quality of essential services and health outcomes for communities throughout the region.
Following the closing of the transaction, a Legacy Community Foundation independent of OHSU will receive funds equal to Legacy Health’s cash less its debt and a negotiated retainer, to make grants in support of health, healthcare and health equity in our communities.
