The University of Pennsylvania Health System and Doylestown Health have signed a letter of intent for the Bucks County hospital to become part of Penn Medicine.
While not binding, the letter begins a months-long process by both systems to thoroughly review financial and other records, hammer out a formal agreement, and shepherd it past a number of federal and state regulatory hurdles.
Both Doylestown Health President and CEO James Brexler and University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Kevin B. Mahoney voiced support for the integration in a statement Thursday.
“We are excited to explore this opportunity with Doylestown Health, which has a strong, historic commitment to patients in the Northern region of the areas we serve,” said Mahoney.
Penn Medicine operates six hospitals — the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia, plus Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health and Princeton Health.
Doylestown Health runs the 100-year-old Doylestown Hospital, a not-for-profit community teaching hospital in Doylestown Township with 247 beds and a medical staff of more than 435 physicians providing care in more than 50 specialties.
That’s a far cry from the eight beds it had in 1923 when the women of the Village Improvement Association founded Doylestown Hospital. But it is still believed to be the only U.S. hospital system to have been founded and still governed by a secular women’s association.
“As we begin our second century, our boards of trustees are excited about how this partnership with Penn Medicine will further expand Doylestown Health’s ability to deliver clinical excellence and positively impact the health and well-being of the communities we have faithfully served for more than 100 years,” Brexler said.
According to the statement, a partnership between Doylestown Health and Penn Medicine would deepen an existing relationship.
Doylestown Hospital is already part of the Penn Cancer Network and Penn operates Penn Radiation Oncology at Doylestown on the medical center’s West State Street campus.
The statement adds that the organizations’ “shared values and commitment to serving patients...sets the stage for the development of new clinical programs and enhanced services to help more patients and families across the greater Philadelphia region.”
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