Wellmont, Mountain States file requests for merger approval

Johnson City Press – The region’s two major health systems submitted their plans to merge to state officials Tuesday, revealing more details about the new company they hope to create.

In their applications for regulatory approval, asking for a certificate of public advantage, or COPA, in Tennessee and a cooperative agreement in Virginia, Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance discussed more candidly how the systems would jointly manage their facilities and staff, should the merger go forward.

The systems previously filed a pre-submission report to both states’ departments of health, in which they pledged to keep all current hospitals in operation as health care institutions for at least five years, and vowed to maintain the three major tertiary care hospitals in Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City.