Wellstar, AU Health overcome biggest hurdle in merger

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has approved the merger of Wellstar Heath and Augusta University Health.

But the merger isn’t complete yet.

In the merger, Wellstar will become the sole corporate member of AU Health and will have a 40-year contract with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

“It’s important to say during the selection process the board realized that the board and Wellstar Health Systems shared a proactive vision, and the proactive delivery of healthcare for the patients and the community we serve,” Dr. Brooks Keel, acting CEO of AU Health System, said in a hearing in June.

EARLIER COVERAGE:

Keel said Wellstar would take over as the controlling legal entity of the health system, which will now be known as Wellstar MCG Health, referring to the university’s Medical College of Georgia.

In addition to AU Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Georgia, AU Health runs the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta and Roosevelt Warm Springs Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospitals and owns physician practices.

Wellstar runs nine hospitals in suburban Atlanta but closed two hospitals in Atlanta in the past year.

It said it has pledged to invest nearly $800 million in AU Health facilities, including more than $200 million for the main Augusta University Medical Center, plus building the new hospital in Columbia County and associated facilities.

Wellstar also said it would spend additional money on the implementation of a new medical records system that the state is spending $105 million on.

“While work remains to be done before the transaction is complete, we are working diligently toward the goal of completing the deal this summer,” Augusta University said in a news release Thursday. “We look forward to combining the best of community healthcare and academic medicine to improve quality and safety while driving world-class care advances where Georgians need them most.”

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