‘This is a striking opportunity,’ Exeter Health Resources president says of his organization’s possible merger with Beth Israel Lahey Health.
Exeter Health Resources says it’s exploring an “exciting” and “game-changing” affiliation to join Beth Israel Lahey Health in Massachusetts.
Kevin Callahan, president of Exeter Health Resources Inc., said a letter of intent has been signed to move forward with discussions with the second-largest health system in Massachusetts with the goal of reaching a definitive agreement by late spring.
Exeter Health Resources includes Exeter Hospital, Core Physicians and Rockingham Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice.
“This is a striking opportunity,” Callahan said. “We think a Beth Israel Lahey Health and Exeter combination is a combination for the future and how we think about the future demands. I couldn’t think of a better partner to pursue that future with.”
The announcement comes a little more than a year after Exeter Hospital’s potential merger with Massachusetts General Hospital and its parent company Mass General Brigham officially fell through after the New Hampshire attorney general announced opposition to the merger in 2019 because of antitrust concerns.
The merger under Mass General Brigham would have brought the nonprofit Exeter Hospital under the same leadership as Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in nearby Dover, which was acquired by Mass General in 2017.
Callahan said after Mass General withdrew, Exeter Hospital decided to go back to the drawing board after reaffirming why an “affiliation makes sense for Exeter.”
The partnership would allow them to diversify and grow clinical services to meet the needs of the community, as well as control healthcare costs by leveraging the purchasing power of a larger healthcare system, according to Callahan.
He said Exeter Health Resources spent the last year looking at possible affiliations with healthcare systems across New Hampshire and throughout the New England region.
“What emerged out of that very deep analysis was that Beth Israel Lahey would be an extraordinary potential partner for our organization,” he said. “They share similar values, similar aspirations as a healthcare delivery system. They are very much grounded in the community that they provide healthcare to.” — PATRICK CRONIN/PORTSMOUTH HERALD
