Tower Health announces strategic alliance with Penn Medicine

Reading-based Tower Health announced today that it is forming a strategic alliance with Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine.

The health network said that the agreement is not a merger or acquisition and it will continue to operate as a separate organization.

Instead, it said it is “a relationship between separate organizations focused on the joint development of innovative programs and initiatives.”

Penn Medicine formed a similar relationship with Lancaster County-based Lancaster General Health, now Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, in 2015.

Tower Health’s board of directors has signed a letter of intent to begin the process of developing an alignment model with Penn Medicine.

At the same time Tower Health said it will continue its work to improve its clinical and financial operations.

Tom Work, chair of Tower Health’s board of directors, said the hospital has been working since March to make operational improvements and has made strides in its financial turnaround efforts as patient volumes return to pre-pandemic levels.

He said the alliance will help in those efforts.

“Among our criteria for considering a strategic alliance as one possible path forward, the Board wanted to find a compatible health system that shares our patient-focused values and represents an opportunity to not only stabilize, but strengthen the care we deliver,” he said. “Penn Medicine is one of the premier healthcare systems in the country, embodying all of the key attributes we were looking for in a strategic affiliation. We are excited to work together to finalize the terms of our alliance.”

Tower and Penn Medicine will now establish an affiliation steering committee that will take approximately six months to evaluate potential areas of collaboration.