Long a staple in Central Texas’ healthcare landscape, Scott & White Hospital announced Thursday it will merge with Baylor Health Care, another major player in the area.
Company officials say the deal will result in Baylor Scott & White and will provide a cheaper and more efficient service for patients.
"We are going to lower the cost of the practice of medicine,” Drayton McLane Jr., Chairman of Scott & White’s Board of Trustees said. “We think this is going to put us in leadership in the Southwest."
Officials say the discussions to form the new Baylor Scott and White healthcare system started two years ago. The systems' parallel missions were the selling point.
"We saw the similarities,” McLane said. “Both organizations are based on Christian healing. Both organizations are physician-centric."
Leaders from both systems also say the implementation of the Affordable Care Act played a role in the merger. They knew change was coming, and they wanted to meet the new health care standards.
"We knew pretty much where it was going, so it made sense two years ago when we didn't know anything about what we know today," Dr. Robert Pryor, president of Baylor Scott & White said.
They hope to reduce health care costs by focusing on reducing the time patients stay in the hospital and they want to make sure everyone who needs health care gets it.
"Twenty-seven percent of the people that live in Texas are uninsured. Though it's unacceptable we have to get a health plan system that makes health care affordable and everyone can have access to it," SO AND SO said.
The new healthcare system will have 43 hospitals across Central and North Texas.
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