Prince William Health System to Join Novant

By Kristen Mack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 28, 2009; Page D02

Prince William Health System plans to merge with North Carolina-based Novant Health, another regional nonprofit health care provider, which has pledged more than $200 million to help the Manassas hospital meet the demands of the fast-growing county.

The deal announced yesterday comes less than a year after Inova Health System, Northern Virginia's largest hospital chain, abandoned plans to merge with the Manassas hospital. Inova walked away from the deal in June, citing a legal challenge from the Federal Trade Commission to a merger that had been in the works 22 months.

After that deal fell apart, Prince William Health System studied 20 potential partners and settled on Novant. The two systems will complete the partnership structure, as well as necessary regulatory approvals, over the next several months. The merger is expected to be done this fall.

"We share a common mission, which is to serve everyone, regardless of their ability to pay," said Michael J. Schwartz, president and chief executive of Prince William Health System.
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The partnership will allow Prince William Health System to renovate the hospital, add private rooms, modernize the intensive-care unit and recruit more doctors, Schwartz said.

Novant Health, which owns several Charlotte-area hospitals, has more than 1,000 doctors serving patients in North and South Carolina. Last year, it lost $174 million because of investment performance. To save money, Novant's board has agreed to freeze raises this year for department directors and top managers.

Paul Wiles, Novant's president and chief executive, said the nonprofit provider wanted to partner "with an organization which shares our values for improving the health of its residents, including those most in need during such trying economic times."

Some hospital employees are skeptical, saying they are worried about losing their jobs and about any drop in quality of care. When word of a potential partnership began circulating this year, a group of employees formed an alliance to advocate an independent, nonprofit community organization.

Wiles said Novant's intention is to "grow services, and in order to do that, we need more employees."