NORFOLK, Va. — After almost a year of planning to merge, Sentara Healthcare and Cone Health announced Wednesday that the healthcare companies had decided not to combine.
The Virginia-based Sentara, and North Carolina-based Cone, initially made their announcement in August of 2020. At that time, the not-for-profit companies thought merging their teams might take two years.
A Wednesday release said leadership from the two companies had been honing in on the merge with dedication starting in early 2021, when they mutually came to the decision to cancel.
"Since announcing our intent to affiliate, both Sentara Healthcare and Cone Health have remained committed to doing what is in the best interests of all those we have the privilege to serve," a spokesperson wrote. "As this work progressed, we realized that each of our communities and key stakeholders require support and commitments from our respective organizations that are better served by remaining independent."
Howard Kern, the president and CEO of Sentara Healthcare, said this change in plans wouldn't affect either company's community focus.
"Sentara and Cone Health remain aligned and in agreement that our first priority is to those we serve, and we believe this will be better done as independent organizations," Kern wrote.
Sentara Healthcare has 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, and Cone Health has five hospitals in North Carolina. Both systems have additional medical centers, urgent cares and doctor's offices.
