PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Doylestown Health today signed a definitive agreement that will see the Bucks County health system become part of Pennsylvania Medicine, strengthening both organizations’ shared commitment to providing the most advanced, convenient and compassionate health care to patients and families in the greater Philadelphia area.
Pending final approval from federal and state governments in the coming months, the two systems aim to integrate clinical care and operations by early 2025, while also working to develop new programs and enhanced services across four care sites: hospitals, outpatient facilities, home and telehealth. UPHS and Doylestown Health announced they had signed a letter of intent to combine in January.
“At Pennsylvania Medicine, we are committed to meeting patients when and where they need us most,” said UPHS CEO Kevin B. Mahoney. “By integrating Doylestown Health into UPHS, we can bring cutting-edge care and new therapies – services that patients would not otherwise be able to access if they traveled far from home – to the community and expand access to care. Through this strategy, we are bringing together the best of Pennsylvania Medicine and Doylestown Health to give our patients a convenient way to get as much excellent care and support as possible.”
Doylestown Health is a not-for-profit, clinically integrated care network dedicated to exceptional care from birth through end of life. Doylestown Health's flagship facility, Doylestown Hospital, offers leading experts, advanced therapies, minimally invasive surgical procedures, clinical trials and patient-centered care in a state-of-the-art facility.
“Doylestown Health joining Pennsylvania Medicine will enable both organizations to provide the highest quality, cost-effective care to patients where they need it,” said Jim Brexler, president and CEO of Doylestown Health. “Combining Doylestown Health's unique brand of care delivered with compassion and expertise with the world-renowned, breakthrough care that Pennsylvania Medicine is synonymous with will strengthen each organization's ability to provide the care our communities need and deserve.”
If the approved transaction closes, the two organizations will further strengthen their current collaborations. For example, Penn State Radiation Oncology Doylestown opened in 2011 and provides treatment to more than 400 patients annually. For more than a decade, Doylestown Hospital has been part of the Pennsylvania Cancer Network, a group of select hospitals and physician practices throughout the Philadelphia region that works in collaboration with the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to provide broader access to treatments and clinical trials.
Doylestown Hospital will be the seventh hospital in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Three Philadelphia hospitals – the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Presbyterian Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital – joined UPHS in 2013, 2015 and 2018, respectively, as did Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Medical Center and Princeton Medical Center.
The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine is a world-leading academic medical center committed to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care and community service. It is comprised of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1765 as the first medical school in the United States.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently ranked among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in fiscal year 2022. Boasting a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn School of Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that are shaping modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T-cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology being used in COVID-19 vaccines.
University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore and include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Medical Center, Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and operations include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital and Princeton House Behavioral Health.
The Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania is an $11.1 billion enterprise with more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.
