Business

April 22, 2009

Tyler Memorial, Mercy consider merging

Wyoming County’s only hospital faces difficult challenges, but closing not an option, CEO says.

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
Andrew M. Seder on Facebook   |   @TLAndrewSeder on Twitter

TUNKHANNOCK TWP. – Wyoming County’s only hospital has announced it is holding merger discussions with fellow nonprofit health system Mercy Health Partners.

While still early in the process, Tyler Memorial Hospital Chief Executive Officer Denise S. Gieski and John M. Starcher, Jr., her counterpart at Scranton-based Mercy Health Partners, said Tuesday that so far they like what a potential merger could produce.

Gieski said the Tyler board of directors started looking into options, including merging, about a year ago.

“We are a small, rural, independent hospital and with that comes a lot of challenges,” she said. “Financially, that sometimes becomes difficult.”

But, she said, closing the hospital’s doors was not an option.

“It’s a long process … we have reached a point we felt we could tell people we are talking and exploring the feasibility of a partnership,” Gieski said.

She added that the end result would not be a sale, but a partnership or merger. If Mercy were to enter into an agreement with Tyler, it’s possible Tyler’s name could change to Mercy Hospital. That’s been the case with other hospitals operated by subsidiaries of Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners, which owns Mercy Health Partners. Gieski said the hospital, which is currently not affiliated with any religion, would become a Catholic hospital if it merged with Mercy.

Gieski said the board accepts that possibility because Mercy’s mission and Tyler’s mission are one in the same.

“Our primary goal is for health care to be local in this community,” Gieski said. “Their vision, their mission, their core values are all very appealing to us.”

It’s too early to know how any merger would affect health services offered at Tyler or whether the roster of 330 employees would be reduced. Gieski said it’s possible Mercy would actually add services at Tyler, which closed its obstetrics department in September.

Gieski said Tyler’s board “considered all our options and felt this was the best fit for us. We really clicked with Mercy. We felt they most mirrored what we wanted for our community.”

Starcher said the next 90 to 120 days will be spent going through he called “a due diligence process.”

If the two sides agree a merger is appropriate, more in-depth discussions laying out the details of a partnership would be the next move.

“Tyler has deep roots in the communities they serve throughout Wyoming County. This due diligence process allows each hospital time to look at the array of services offered to our communities and discover creative ways to better serve the people who rely upon each facility for their medical care.”

Tyler was founded in 1948 in Meshoppen before moving to its current location in Tunkhannock Township in 1965. It has 58 beds and 39 active physicians on staff.

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