Princeton HealthCare System Joins Penn Medicine

On Jan 9, 2018

Princeton HealthCare System (PHCS) and its affiliates, including University Medical Center of Princeton, Princeton House Behavioral Health, Princeton HomeCare and the Princeton Medicine physician network, are now part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS), one of the world’s leading academic medical centers.

UPHS and PHCS leaders announced the transaction after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. The plan was first announced in December 2016.

“The joining together of Princeton HealthCare System and Penn Medicine represents an exciting new chapter in Penn Medicine’s growth. PHCS has an impressive reputation for providing high-quality care to patients close to home, and innovating in many types of community-based health and wellness initiatives,” said Ralph W. Muller, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “Now, we can offer a powerful partnership to patients throughout the region PHCS serves, continuing the services they already depend on, coupled with access to world-class care for complex conditions and innovative clinical trials available at Penn Medicine.”

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes five highly regarded hospitals in Pennsylvania as well as primary and specialty physician networks and outpatient facilities, home and hospice services. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center have together been consistently recognized as an Honor Roll Hospital in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings, including the past four years in the nation’s top 10 hospitals. The University of Pennsylvania Health System is part of Penn Medicine, along with the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, which consistently ranks in U.S. News & World Report’s top five medical schools and among the nation’s five leading medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding.

“This is a significant day in our history, and we look forward to being an even stronger organization, clinically and financially, as we continue to fulfill our almost century-old mission of serving this community,” said PHCS President and CEO Barry S. Rabner. “We could not ask for a better partner than Penn Medicine. Members of our community will continue to receive high-quality care right here, close to home. They also will benefit from easier access to the latest medical breakthroughs, clinical trials, cutting-edge technologies and specialized clinical expertise—both here and elsewhere in the Penn Medicine system.”

PHCS, founded in 1919 and located about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, provides a wide range of inpatient and outpatient hospital care, behavioral health and addiction services, rehabilitation, in-home nursing, hospice care and fitness and wellness services to more than 1.3 million people in central New Jersey. University Medical Center of Princeton (UMCP), was ranked in the top 20 hospitals of the New York metropolitan region in U.S. News & World Report’s 2017-2018 Best Hospital rankings.

As part of this transaction, the names of PHCS and its affiliates will change. The system will be Penn Medicine Princeton Health. The hospital’s new name will be Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center.

PHCS employs approximately 3,000 staff and has an active medical staff of nearly 1,300 physicians. Like each of Penn Medicine’s hospitals, PHCS also shares a proud tradition of nursing excellence, having achieved Magnet® status, the highest institutional recognition available for nursing excellence. PHCS announced in June 2015 that it would begin evaluating partnership opportunities to ensure its continued success in the future and in July of 2016, executed a Letter of Intent with UPHS. The move to join Penn Medicine comes following PHCS officials’ consideration of 17 potential partners.

“Our Trustees engaged community members, physicians and employees in a thorough, two-year process to evaluate and select a partner,” said Kim Pimley, Chairman, PHCS Board of Trustees. “In Penn Medicine, we found a partner that shares our values. Together, we can make world-class care more accessible to the people in the communities we serve. We are delighted to begin a shared future with Penn Medicine.”

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