Northeast Health

The outset of the recession forced Northeast Health, Inc. (NEH)—a regional, comprehensive, nonprofit network that serves 22 counties in upstate New York—to merge with two other health systems in the area: St. Peter’s Health Care Services (St. Peter’s) and Seton Health (Seton).

This merger would create the Capital Region’s largest and most comprehensive nonprofit network of high-quality, advanced medical care, primary care rehabilitation, and senior services. It would also increase access to affordable, efficient, high-quality health care services for people in the region. In November 2009, NYHealth awarded NEH a grant to support efforts to merge the three health care systems into St. Peter’s Health Partners. This grant was funded under the 2009 Economic Recovery RFP.

Replacing competition with cooperation will realize savings, rationalize service delivery, and improve quality of care for patients. The three entities have begun the due diligence process to review clinical, governance, regulatory, cultural, and administrative issues associated with the merger. Given the scale and complexity of the proposed merger, considerable work must be undertaken to support successful planning and implementation.