PHILADELPHIA and ABINGTON, Pa., May 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Jefferson and Abington Health today announced their “hub and hub” merger has been completed, marking a new era in urban/suburban access to some of the nation’s finest clinicians, scientists, academicians and healthcare professionals. The newly-formed organization, to be known as Jefferson, will encompass Thomas Jefferson University plus Jefferson Health, the new combined clinical brand. Jefferson will include 19,000, employees, 3,370 physicians, 2,482 nurses and 1,751 inpatient beds. The organization will be unique in its governance structure with one combined board and equal representation from Jefferson and Abington. Richard Hevner, of Jefferson, will be the chair for the first two years followed by chair-elect Stephen Crane, of Abington. Two independent directors will also be appointed.

“Jefferson Health is truly different because now patients can choose an organization that marries the nationally recognized and renowned academic medical center of Thomas Jefferson University with the outstanding clinical reputation and community connectedness of Abington to deliver care that is driven by education, institutional knowledge and scientific discovery,” said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health. “What makes us different does truly set us apart. We have one, equally-representative board to drive the creation of enterprise-wide collaboration that makes the value of our combined organizations greater than the sum of the two parts.”

“The speed of this merger’s closing is proof positive that we have closely aligned cultures built on a combined vision to reimagine health, health education and discovery to create unparalleled value and be the most trusted healthcare partner,” said Larry Merlis, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Jefferson Health. “The new combined clinical entity is now Jefferson Health which includes our hospitals, outpatient and urgent care centers, physician practices and everywhere we deliver care.”

Abington Health and Jefferson entered into a letter of intent in October 2014. In January 2015, a definitive agreement was reached. The Abington name will be maintained in the suburban Abington region and will now include a Jefferson Health endorsement. For example, Abington Memorial Hospital will now be known as Abington Hospital/Jefferson Health and Abington Health-Lansdale Hospital will be known as Abington-Lansdale Hospital/Jefferson Health.

Jefferson, the combined organization, now includes¹:

• 19,000 employees
• 3,370 physicians
• 2,842 full-time nurses
• 1,751 inpatient beds
• 78,860 admissions
• 238,980 ED visits
• 1,714,366 outpatient visits
• 5 hospitals:
  Abington Memorial Hospital,² Thomas Jefferson University Hospital², Jefferson
  Hospital for Neurosciences, Lansdale Hospital³, Methodist Hospital

• 9 outpatient centers and 4 urgent care centers
• 3,228 full and part-time faculty
• 3,908 students
• $201 million in charitable care and community benefit
• $106.3 million in public/private research funding
• Thomas Jefferson University
  Sidney Kimmel Medical College
  Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (NCI-designated)
  Jefferson Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
  Jefferson School of Health Professions
  Jefferson School of Nursing
  Jefferson School of Pharmacy
  Jefferson School of Population Health

¹ 2014 data
² Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for nursing excellence
³ Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, substantiating the professional satisfaction of nurses and identifying Lansdale Hospital as one of the best places to work.

About Jefferson — Health is all we do.

Our newly formed organization, Jefferson, encompasses Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University, representing our clinical and academic entities. Together, the people of Jefferson, 19,000 strong, provide the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients, educate the health professionals of tomorrow, and discover new treatments and therapies that will define the future of health care.

Jefferson Health comprises five hospitals, 13 outpatient and urgent care centers, as well as physician practices and everywhere we deliver care throughout the city and suburbs across Philadelphia, Montgomery and Bucks counties in Pa., and Camden County in New Jersey. Together, these facilities serve more than 78,000 inpatients, 238,000 emergency patients and 1.7 million outpatient visits annually. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is the largest freestanding academic medical center in Philadelphia. Abington Hospital is the largest community teaching hospital in Montgomery or Bucks counties. Other hospitals include Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in Center City Philadelphia; Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia; and Abington-Lansdale Hospital in Hatfield Township.

Thomas Jefferson University enrolls more than 3,900 future physicians, scientists, nurses and healthcare professionals in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC); Jefferson Schools of Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy and Population Health; and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and is home to the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

For more information and a complete listing of Jefferson services and locations, visit www.jefferson.edu.

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SOURCE Jefferson