After word of potential Mercy sale, Baystate CEO reassures staff but points to nondisclosure, confidentiality
SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Health President and CEO Peter D. Banko on Wednesday acknowledged reports that Baystate and Mercy are in talks.
But Banko told staffers that management is unable to provide details.
"Potential partnership discussions or conversations of any type are always bound by nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements," Banko, on the job for about a year, wrote to Baystate's 13,000 employees in an email Wednesday.
That day, The Republican reported that Baystate and Mercy have been talking for some time.
But details of how a merged system would work and the effects on employees and services — or if it will even happen — are not apparent.
Spokespeople at Baystate and Trinity Health of New England declined to comment on the possibility of a merger or acquisition.
Peter Banko is the president and chief executive officer of Baystate Health. (Don Treeger / The Republican, File)The Republican
The nurses' union at Mercy asked management this spring about a possible sale as part of their negotiations. Mercy's answer left open the possibility, according to a response provided by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
The possibility of consolidation has Springfield-area elected officials worried about health care access.
Mercy, with 182 beds, serves people in Springfield's poorest communities.
Both Mercy and Baystate have high percentages of patients on Medicare and Medicaid, government insurance that pays less for care than the institutions would otherwise charge.
Mercy gets nearly 80% of its patient revenue from public payers like Medicare and Medicaid, according to Center for Health Information and Analysis data from 2023.
Baystate Medical Center is in virtually the same boat at 72.6%.
The nurses' union spokesperson said the unfolding scenario is a reminder of Trinity's quiet sale of the former Providence Hospital in Holyoke in 2021 to a for-profit operator for $4 million.
Any deal would need approvals from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office and health officials, as well as the federal government.
Stories by Jim Kinney
Read the original article on MassLive .
