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Bon Secours, Mercy Health are merging

Staff Report //July 24, 2018//

Bon Secours, Mercy Health are merging

Staff Report //July 24, 2018//

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Bon Secours Health System, a Catholic health ministry serving residents along the East Coast, and Mercy Health, which serves Ohio and Kentucky, are merging to form Bon Secours Mercy Health. The two entities will create one of the five largest Catholic health care systems in the nation, with more than 57,000 employees and 1,000 sites of care, according to a news release.

The Bon Secours Health System includes Bon Secours St. Francis Health System in Greenville.

John M. Starcher Jr. will serve as president and CEO of the new organization, once the merger is complete in the fall. Starcher now serves as president and CEO of Mercy Health. Bon Secours President and CEO Rich Statuto will serve Bon Secours Mercy Health as an adviser for the next year, primarily focused on strategic growth and innovation. He plans to retire in 2019.

“Our new ministry has an exciting future before it. It is positioned to be more successful than Mercy Health and Bon Secours ever could be as separate entities,” Starcher said in the release. “We will expand our services and programs, provide greater access in our markets to help and serve more people.”

Bon Secours Mercy Health will operate under the governance of one board of directors, led by chairman Chris Allen, who currently serves as chairman of the Bon Secours Board of Trustees. Katherine Vestal, current chairwoman of the Mercy Health Board of Trustees, will serve as vice chairwoman. The overarching governing entity, which has canonical oversight for the system, will be called Bon Secours Mercy Health Ministries and will be chaired by Sister Pat Eck.

Existing names and brands will continue to be represented in signage, uniforms and badges for both Bon Secours and Mercy Health, the release said.

Bon Secours Health System is a not-for-profit Catholic health system sponsored by Bon Secours Ministries and founded by the Sisters of Bon Secours. With operations in Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida and New York, Bon Secours owns, manages, or takes part in joint ventures with 20 hospitals and 27 post-acute care facilities or agencies including skilled nursing facilities, home care and hospice services and assisted living facilities.

Mercy Health is the largest health system in Ohio and among the top five employers in the state, with more than 33,500 employees serving communities throughout Ohio and in Kentucky, the release said. It has assets of $6.8 billion and nearly 500 care facilities including 23 hospitals and 26 post-acute care facilities including senior living communities, hospice programs and home health agencies.

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