Union Hospital is now part of ChristianaCare, as ChristianaCare and Affinity Health Alliance officials announced a final agreement that merges Affinity Health Alliance and its subsidiaries into Delaware’s largest health care provider.
Union Hospital will now be known as ChristianaCare, Union Hospital, and the campus, which houses the hospital and other health services, will be known as ChristianaCare, Cecil County.
The merger comes on the same day it was announced that Nanticoke Health System in Seaford, DE completed a merger Salisbury, MD’s Peninsula. (See headline link at bottom of story). Both Union and Nanticoke faced challenges in running rural hospitals in an environment with regional health care systems.
Union’s parent company Affinity has been dealing with losses from operations, while ChristianaCare remains solidly profitable.
“ChristianaCare and Union Hospital have long shared a deep commitment to serving the community,” said Janice E. Nevin, ChristianaCare CEO. “This integration will advance our ability to make a positive impact on the health of every person in every community we serve. That includes providing high-quality, safe and affordable hospital care when people need it—and it also includes a wide array of services, partnerships and technology to help people achieve their best health and manage chronic conditions where they live, work and play. We’re incredibly excited to welcome the caregivers of Union Hospital as we join together in service to the greater Cecil County community.”
Union Hospital becomes ChristianaCare’s third hospital, alongside Christiana Hospital in Newark and Wilmington Hospital.
While Union is the first ChristianaCare hospital across state lines, the two organizations overlap in the geographic areas they serve, and they have a history of collaboration, a release stated.
“This is an exciting new day for our employees, our providers and our community,” said Rich Szumel, M.D., president, ChristianaCare, Cecil County. “We are joining one of the premier, forward-thinking health systems in the country, enabling us to grow, innovate and make an impact on the health of our community in transformative new ways.”
Union Hospital operations will continue without significant changes or interruptions as the integration process begins. All services and programs managed by Union Hospital and Affinity Health are continuing, and patients will continue to see their same physicians and providers at their current locations.
Affinity Health has 1,200 employees and is one of the largest employers in Cecil County. ChristianaCare has 12,000 employees and is the largest private employer in Delaware.
While the integration process between the two organizations will begin immediately, the process is expected to take a year or more.
On June 20, 2019, ChristianaCare and Affinity Health Alliance announced that they signed a letter of intent for Union Hospital and its affiliates to join ChristianaCare. With the signing of the letter of intent, the organizations entered a period of exclusive negotiation and due diligence. These processes concluded successfully, leading to the signing of a final agreement with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2020.
Merger of Peninsula and Nanticoke health systems becomes official
