The state Attorney General's office announced two agreements today that move the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center closer to its goal of merging with Mercy Hospital.
The office's charitable trusts section filed a joint petition in Allegheny County Orphan's Court aimed at preserving Mercy's charitable mission. The office's antitrust section also filed a consent agreement in U.S. District Court that seeks to preserve health care competition in the region.
To resolve antitrust concerns, the agreement requires UPMC to agree to a number of provisions. Among these are:
- Extending existing health plan contracts and their pricing with Mercy for eight years;
- Negotiating in good faith contracts for inpatient and outpatient services at Mercy. If those negotiations break down, health plans could request binding arbitration for contracts involving certain services for which Mercy is a significant provider, such as trauma and burn care and obstetrics;
- Cooperating in the transfer of patients to non-UPMC facilities when those patients have a health plan that does not include UPMC as a provider; and
- Maintaining an open medical staff at Mercy for all qualified physicians in Western Pennsylvania.
At a news conference today at Mercy, Attorney General Tom Corbett also noted that UPMC would make a $100 million contribution over six years to help the Sisters of Mercy, which founded the hospital in 1847, to "continue the charitable mission that they have pursued for the past 160 years."
Sister Margaret Hannan, president of the Sisters of Mercy Pittsburgh, called the agreements a "vital step in the process of this transfer."
"We at UPMC are thrilled with the Attorney General's support," said Elizabeth Concordia, the health system's senior vice president for academic and community hospitals.
She said the merger would help to assure the future of the city's only Catholic hospital.
Before the merger could take place, however, it also would need approval from the Federal Trade Commission. That agency has yet to announce a decision, Mr. Corbett noted. Approval also is needed from the Vatican.
UPMC and Mercy announced in September that they intended to merge. Mercy officials said they turned to UPMC, which already operates 17 hospitals in the region, when they were struggling financially and had exhausted other options to obtain funds for capital improvements.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First Published: May 25, 2007, 5:45 p.m.
