Over the past few months, we’ve been humbled by the outpouring of support we’ve received from the community.
It’s exciting to see that so many people in our region believe in the vision of our proposed future health system and the benefits of a local solution to tackling our regional health care needs. In fact, we’ve had more than 10,000 unique visitors to BecomingBetterTogether.org. We want to thank you for your thoughtful questions and support for this potential new health system.
Additionally, we’ve received numerous public statements of support from community and business leaders, academic leaders, elected officials and more, such as East Tennessee State University, the local Chambers of Commerce, Eastman Chemical Company and the Tennessee Medical Association. You can view the latest media clips, including supportive op-eds and letters to the editor, here.
News & Updates
Community Health Work Groups Initiative
This month, we launched the community work groups initiative in partnership with ETSU as a way to gain public input in developing a 10-year health improvement plan for the region. These groups, led by subject matter experts, will continue to meet throughout Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia through the end of the year. We are very encouraged by the almost 100 community members who joined us in both Elizabethton and Abingdon to kick off this important work.
Visit BecomingBetterTogether.org to learn more about how to get involved and to RSVP for an upcoming meeting near you.
Proposed Merger Progress
We continue to pursue due diligence and other important steps toward a potential agreement to combine the health systems, including measuring the likely cost and quality benefits, determining the structure of the proposed system and engaging with key stakeholders such as employees, physicians and the community to understand what’s important to them regarding the proposed system and our vision for the future.
There are several upcoming milestones in the process to finalize our proposed partnership.
- This fall, we expect to execute a Definitive Agreement (DA) between our two organizations, which is the next step in the process toward seeking government approval to merge.
- With that in mind, we will also file a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the Department of Health in Tennessee, which is a required first step before we submit a COPA (Certificate of Public Advantage) application in Tennessee.
- There is still a lot of work ahead, and we’re committed to keeping you informed of the progress we’re making. We’ll continue sharing news as we have it in a variety of ways, including through updates to BecomingBetterTogether.org.
Finally, in case you missed it, Bart Hove, president and CEO of Wellmont, and Alan Levine, president and CEO of Mountain States, answered viewer questions about the proposed merger on WJHL Monday. See what they had to say here.