Thomas Jefferson University has officially acquired Lehigh Valley Health Network

Thomas Jefferson University completed its acquisition of Lehigh Valley Health Network Thursday, creating one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems and continuing the remarkable growth of Jefferson to 32 hospitals from just three hospitals in 2015.

Jefferson said the new system, with more than $14 billion in combined annual revenue, would be among the 15 biggest nonprofit health systems nationally by revenue. Jefferson now stretches from Scranton and Hazleton in Northeast Pennsylvania through the Lehigh Valley to South Jersey.

The combination “will allow us to continue to have a big community presence from the rural areas to the urban areas and all points in between,” Jefferson CEO Joseph G. Cacchione said. One of the system’s goals is to preserve health care in rural areas and in urban areas where many providers don’t want to be, he said.

No reduction in staff is planned as a result of the merger, Jefferson said. The combined systems have a total of 65,000 employees. Neither organization has published financial results for the year that ended June 30.

Cacchione said efforts to get the two systems to work together would start immediately, but not with the goal of cutting overhead costs. “We have to put wins on the board. That has to be real. Big is not necessarily better all the time. Some of the systems that are failing out there are very large,” he said.

One of the first goals is clinical integration, which means that a heart patient in central Montgomery County could stay close to home if that were appropriate, go to Lehigh Valley Hospital — Cedar Crest for heart surgery, or go to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City for a heart transplant.

Another early goal is the extension of clinical trials across the Lehigh system, he said. Jefferson has already expanded its insurance business in the Lehigh Valley.

Cacchione will continue in his role as CEO of the entire organization. Brian Nester, Lehigh Valley’s former CEO, will be Jefferson’s chief operating officer. Baligh R. Yehia, president of Jefferson Health, will continue leading those operations, but will also be chief transformation officer for the entire system.

Jefferson agreed to give Lehigh three seats on its 16-member board of trustees, but did not share the names.

Jefferson and Lehigh Valley announced their preliminary agreement in December and their final agreement in May, which means that the deal was completed very quickly. It often takes many more months to secure regulatory approvals.

This acquisition did not spark federal antitrust concerns because there’s not much geographic overlap between the Jefferson and Lehigh systems, Cacchione said. The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General also reviewed the transaction.

“The state wants to be sure that we act as a charitable organization, we continue to live our charitable mission, and that we continue to act in a way that is not anti-competitive, and that we continue to do what we should be doing for our communities,” Cacchione said.