Jameson/UPMC merger cleared

Staff report

NEW CASTLE

Jameson Health System is cleared to complete its merger with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office requested Jameson to facilitate a nationwide request for other proposals last August, but an arbitrator has determined that effort did not produce a qualified bid that would be an alternative to the UPMC affiliation agreement.

Accordingly, the attorney general’s office will not object to the transaction if it can reach an acceptable consent decree with UPMC. A proposal for such a consent decree is in the hands of the attorney general’s office.

“Jameson looks forward to the timely completion of this process and appreciates the support it has been shown by its community, employees and medical staff,” a spokesman said in a statement released Thursday.

In September 2014, Jameson’s board of directors signed a letter of intent to merge with UPMC and later approved the merger last February.

The attorney general’s office expressed concern that UPMC would have too much market share, which would impact the competitive pricing for customers.

“We were disappointed in the outcome, but we certainly respect the arbitrator’s ruling,” said Jeff Johnson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office. “We felt the bids that were submitted met the criteria to move forward, but the judge didn’t agree.”