Mountain States Health Alliance to acquire Wellmont (Johnson City, Kingsport: 2013, home)

[Ted Bear]

Ballad? Heard last nigh they hired an outside consultant to come up with that. $75-$100,000 to fix something that wasn't broken? And why pizz away all the good will/name & brand recognition of what they had, which seemed to work fine?


Ballad....tells a story (tale of woe?), slow, and melancholy. NOT exactly what you are looking for when one thinks "health care".


Hope this is not a demonstration of the intelligence of the people who are going to be running the new outfit. Inauspicious beginning, for sure.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I'm happy the merger is going well but this is dumb. Ballad?

Mountain States Health Alliance was a great name. Ballad sounds like it's based in Phoenix or Las Vegas or Ohio. They should've tried a little harder.

I think they want to be seen as less of a regional player and lose the regional identity

[Jim37680]

Sounds vaguely musical. Old English ballads seem to be preoccupied with "health" and drinking to the health of some and to a pox on others.

<title level="a" type="main" rend="italic">THE LOYAL HEALTH. / A Court Song,

This region is noted a being in the center of bluegrass music and ballads with the ETSU Bluegrass program but they couldn't call it "Bluegrass" lest people think it is in Kentucky. East Tennessee is even more associated with Old Time ballad music but it just wouldn't do to call it Old Time Health System.

[TNBATMAN]

It doesnt matter what they call it-this is all just smoke and mirrors until Adam Levine can find a buyer and sell it. Its what he does.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by TNBATMAN

It doesnt matter what they call it-this is all just smoke and mirrors until Adam Levine can find a buyer and sell it. Its what he does.

Adam Levine, LOL, good one! Maybe THAT is where the Ballad came from! I think you meant Alan Levine.

Alan did try to find a buyer - and couldn't! Then he tried finding a buyer for various parts of MSHA to parcel off parts of it. So I am told.


Then, from what I could tell, Plan 2 didn't work. Which was after friend Baby Bush was to get the Presidency he would leave and go work for his friend with the Administration. This would leave the "problem" (MSHA) to someone else.

Now, it is time to lay off people, liquidate jobs (the state of TN has already been served notice this will happen) and physical assets and then, sell off to other investors what can be sold. The landscape has changed since this whole shebang started though and the corporations like CHS are now themselves selling off instead of acquiring so who knows what the future holds.

[jabogitlu]

So, are you saying the Tri cities will effectively have no local organization? I wondered if the ultimate end game was to sell to a third party national group.

This will have huge implications on patient care and on medical research / economic development with ETSU.

[Rangerred]

Now, it is time to lay off people, liquidate jobs (the state of TN has already been served notice this will happen) and physical assets and then, sell off to other investors what can be sold. The landscape has changed since this whole shebang started though and the corporations like CHS are now themselves selling off instead of acquiring so who knows what the future holds.

So what do you think will become of the new organization? I figured there would by layoffs as redundancy is eliminated and assets are consolidated. However, the question is how many jobs and what part of Tri-Cities feels the biggest impact. I think the most obvious outcome is JCMC becomes the sole level I trauma center for the region simply due to the expense of running such a facility and the area population not supporting two such facilities. Holston Valley and Bristol Regional will probably transition to more community-type hospitals still providing some basic specialist services but trauma care and most specialized care will consolidate in Johnson City due to the larger population and ETSU's influence in the research sector.

I think the biggest unknown is who the winners and losers will be in this merger in terms of job loss and relocation of services. Also, will this new organization remain independent for the foreseeable future or is acquisition imminent? I feel like so many people are worried about the "monopoly" this merger creates but aren't really thinking about the long-term outcomes.

[Beretta]

There has long been talk of the redundency of having two Level I Trauma facilities in such proximity. It is so expensive to maintain that designation. There is so much that goes into maintaining that accreditation that the general public just does not know. Look for their to be one Level I Trauma; however, that isn't a switch you turn off quickly. There are contracts in place with helicopter agencies, trauma surgeons, and state agency designations, etc.

I don't disagree that waste must be eliminated and some consolidation of services is needed. There does need to be restructuring. But make no mistake, there will be long term economic consequences of this and there will be long term healthcare consequences to having one main organization. Yes, I agree that people are worried about the monopoly and not the long term but I don't disagree with the discussion of the monopoly. And let's be honest, this is a small town and a small market; the media does rely somewhat on advertising from the entities that it is supposed to be reporting unbiased on doesn't it? People may or may not be getting all the facts

Water under the bridge but all of this goes back to the feuds between Eddie and Dennis (former CEO's). The times to have avoided what will come was back then. So much waste, grudge buildings and truly not working together from their reign until today to benefit the patients and Tri-Cities and greater East TN/SW Va communities. Now, don't get me wrong, both men were doing their corporate best for their own entities but had there not been the fierce competition and a spirit of cooperation we would be in a different situation today. The boards hiring of outsiders has only compounded the issues.

Many of the people working in the organizations today are very worried for their positions; as well they should be. I hear that physicians are finding that they are not experiencing excellent working conditions because the top talent are nervous and/or leaving and staffing is not optimum already. Physician recruitment is difficult at best. Top tier talent is just not attracted to this. This will take years for the dust to settle.

[Serious Conversation]

I'm concerned in more ways than one. On the clinical side, I think the rural hospitals may be reduced in scope or some close altogether. I can't imagine how difficult is to get and retain talent in some of these really rural spots. A lot of the doctors office will likely be consolidated - if a small community has doctors affiliated with both firms, no need to keep both open. I really have little knowledge of this market, and while I don't think you'll see much near term change, several years after the merger is complete is when I think the negative stuff will show up.

On the business side of the job cuts I would guess wellmont would take the brunt as being the bought entity. No idea what cuts will come from where. I can see teams working in tandem until things are fully merged, but after that cuts in the business offices. The sad thing is the hospital systems are one of the few employers of various business and IT staff in the area. If there are big job losses, a lot of those folks will probably have to move.

I'm glad to be back and like my new job but on a personal level I'm refraining from making major investments or commitments to the area. If I lose my current employment it's almost certain I won't be able to make anywhere near what I'm making now and will have to move again or settle for less.

[Rangerred]

It's going to be very interesting seeing how all of this plays out. I tend to be more optimistic than most and really I think for Johnson City and the immediate area, this merger will be a good thing. I'm particularly excited about ETSU having a prominent role in the new organization and the increase in research opportunities.

On the flip side, there will definitely be a reduction in corporate/management staff and these are well-paying jobs. I think you will continue to see a reduction in rural hospitals and services but this probably has more to do with the overall nature of the healthcare market and not the merger. Overall, Kingsport sees the biggest negative impact as they lose Wellmont's corporate jobs and possibly Indian Path hospital.

As I've mentioned in other threads, right now the Tri-Cities is in the midst of a pretty large-scale economic transition and I'm not sure what the final outcome will be. I do think the MSHA/Wellmont merger will end up being another blow for Kingsport/Bristol, though, and a boon for Johnson City furthering my thought that a generation from now the area will be less "Tri-Cities" and more "Johnson City"