Mount Auburn To Join Hospital Merger

Mount Auburn Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital, and Pathway

Health Network announced Monday that they are entering "serious discussions" toward a merger that will join their parent corporations.

At Pathway, the parent corporation of Deaconess Hospital, merger discussions with Beth Israel already are under way. Each of the institutions is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

The system formed by the combined entities will work toward extending an innovative regional health network including physicians, physician-groups, and community hospitals from a wide area of eastern Massachusetts.

"We are committed to creating a value-driven, price-competitive, regional integrated delivery network that will provide the full array of superior health care services to our patients and communities," the announcement said.

"The proposed network brings together three superb institutions where members of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine have for many years cared for patients and contributed to academic programs of research and education," said Daniel C. Tosteson, Dean of the Medical School. "This move will not only produce more responsive and cost-effective health care for the people of Greater Boston and New England, but also strengthen and foster greater coordination of academic programs. Faculty members in all three institutions have participated vigorously in the design of Harvard Medical School's new pathways for general medical education."

The system would be structured under a single board derived from the merged parent entities, under which both Mount Auburn and Beth Israel-Deaconess would continue as two distinct hospitals and provider organizations. Mount Auburn will have "meaningful representation" on the merged parent board, according to the announcement.