Major Hospital Merger For South Jersey Health Care Provider Will Not Happen

One of South Jersey's largest health care providers is no longer looking to merge with another major health system.

South Jersey-based Virtua Health was exploring a merger with ChristianaCare — Delaware's largest health care provider. In July, both health systems entered a non-binding letter of intent to explore co-founding a regional, not-for-profit health system.

Both entities have agreed to terminate those plans, according to a joint statement issued Thursday.

"After thoughtful evaluation, both organizations have determined that they can best fulfill their missions to serve their communities by continuing to operate independently," the statement said.

ChristianaCare and Virtua are among the largest health care networks in Greater Philadelphia.

Virtua operates five hospitals, two satellite emergency departments, 42 surgery centers and more than 400 other medical offices throughout the region.

ChristianaCare, headquartered in Delaware, has three hospitals, along with several facilities in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Their combined network would have had more than 600 sites of care and nearly 30,000 employees, according to their initial announcement.

The explored merger highlighted a trend of health care providers conglomerating while others struggle to stay afloat. Last year, Cooper Health acquired Cape Regional Health System, expanding its footprint of hospitals to the Jersey Shore.

In May, ChristianaCare successfully bid $50.3 million to acquire facilities from Crozer Health, which recently went bankrupt and shut down multiple hospitals in Pennsylvania's Delaware County.