Inspira Health Network, which has long prided itself on being a provider of community care in South Jersey, announced Monday that Salem Medical Center is joining the Inspira network.
The transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2022, following review and approval by the New Jersey attorney general.
Inspira CEO Amy Mansue said Salem Medical Center is a perfect fit.
“Salem Medical Center and Inspira Health share the same vision of bettering the health of the communities in which they serve,” she said. “The collective strength of this partnership will propel access to high-quality care teams, innovative offerings and best-in-class resources to more people within the Salem community.
“This is a milestone moment for our organization, as it furthers Inspira’s commitment to increase access to convenient, high-quality health care in South Jersey.”
Mansue said additional details about the merger will be released as they become available. A spokesperson for Salem Medical Center said the organization would not comment at this time.
“For more than 70 years, Inspira Health has been providing innovative and safe, high-quality care to Salem County. As the community’s health care needs continued to change and grow, coupled with the initial and ongoing impact of COVID-19, it illuminated a health care infrastructure that needed redefined support,” Inspira said in a statement to ROI-NJ.
The New Jersey Joint Budget Oversight Committee appropriated $20 million to Inspira Health to provide Salem Medical Center the latest in medical and communication innovation coupled with the safety and quality principles of a High Reliability Organization to benefit not just the community, but patients, staff and employers.
“The signing of this definitive agreement is just the first step of many to propel the future of Inspira Health and Salem Medical Center – whom are neighbors in the county – to achieve a shared goal of empowering healthier communities,” the statement continues.
Nonprofit Inspira is a charitable health care organization and a regional leader in physician training, with approximately 200 medical residents and fellows in 13 nationally accredited programs at its hospitals in Vineland, Mullica Hill and Elmer. That number will grow to more than 250 by 2023.
This year, the Inspira health care network introduced new residency programs in internal medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine and a transitional (1-year multispecialty) internship.
An acute-care hospital with approximately 250 beds, Salem Medical Center serves Salem County with a patient-first approach and is committed to working with the community to make the future of health care delivery in the region brighter.
Mansue, who came to Inspira in September 2020, told ROI-NJ that she was determined to grow the network’s reach in Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester counties.
“It’s important to remember that the first hospital that formed what is now the Inspira system began in 1899,” she said then. “This is a long, rich history in these communities, some of which are very rural and very poor. And the health needs of the people in those communities are significant.
“It’s critical for our communities to continue to remain independent, because nobody’s going to love Cumberland and Salem and Gloucester the way we do,” she said. “These are tough communities in terms of their poverty levels and some of the challenges they face. Being part of a large system and risking that those counties might be disenfranchised in some way is not something we’re willing to do.”
