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ST. LOUIS — BJC HealthCare revealed plans Wednesday afternoon to combine with the Kansas City-based St. Luke’s Health System.
The health systems will operate from dual headquarters: One in St. Louis serving eastern Missouri and southern Illinois, and another in Kansas City serving western Missouri and parts of Kansas.
St. Luke’s Health System is separate from the St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Des Peres Hospital in the St. Louis area.
BJC CEO Richard Liekweg said the health systems will have an “even stronger financial foundation.”
“Amid the rapidly changing health care landscape, this is the right time to build on our established relationship with Saint Luke’s,” Liekweg said in a press release.
Liekweg will serve as CEO of the integrated health system. The initial board chair will come from St. Luke’s.
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St. Luke’s CEO Melinda Estes said “the opportunity to come together as a single integrated system” is a “logical next step.”
BJC declined to comment beyond a press release.
The two health systems are working on a definitive agreement. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
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