BERLIN, Md. – TidalHealth of Salisbury is continuing to grow its presence in the Delmarva peninsula and its potential merger with Atlantic General Hospital and Health System of Berlin, Md. could grant them further access to Delaware’s beach communities.
The two organizations signed a nonbinding letter of intent Thursday morning, Dec. 12, that would set TidalHealth to acquire the health system, including its Atlantic General Hospital (AGH) campus in Berlin, which is nine miles south of the Maryland-Delaware border, as well as several offices in the Ocean City area as well as Selbyville, Ocean View and West Fenwick.
The merger is expected to be finalized in summer of 2025, pending regulatory and board approvals.
“We’re better together. . . I think this is an exciting opportunity for the community. We have a growth mindset, and we think it’s important – it’s hard to go alone,” Atlantic General Health System President and CEO Don Owrey told the Delaware Business Times. “There’s a saying, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go farther, go with someone,’ I think is how that goes and it’s true for us.”
AGH has been in operation for 32 years since May of 1993 and boasts 62 beds, six of which are dedicated to critical care, for more than 58,000 nearby residents and yearly visitors. In recent years, expansion has been a theme for AGH as it worked to open an 18,000 square foot regional cancer care center in 2018 and a 50,000 square foot family medical center just last year.
In 2017, it also opened a women’s health center close to the tourist destination Ocean City, where professionals provide comprehensive gynecology and women’s imaging services.
Meanwhile, neighboring TidalHealth has also worked to expand its network of providers over the years. Formerly known as Peninsula Regional Health System of Salisbury the health care system had successfully merged with Seaford’s Nanticoke Health Services and later McCready Health, just before the COVID-19 pandemic presented a medical and economic crisis across the world that has taken years to unravel.
TidalHealth currently has two hospitals, Nanticoke in Seaford and Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, Md., as well as 300 providers in 24 specialties across 30 locations including areas in Delaware such as Millsboro, Dagsboro, Georgetown and Delmar and Maryland spots including Berlin, Princess Anne, Pokomoke City and Crisfield, according to its website.
Looking forward, TidalHealth CEO and President of TidalHealth Peninsula Regional Dr. Steven Leonard said he and his team, as well as those at the Atlantic General Health System, are excited about the possibilities of working together in the future. He and Owrey spoke to the Delaware Business Times in separate interviews.
“It’s exciting for TidalHealth for a lot of reasons. We formed, and we created, TidalHealth when three health care systems came together, and we’ve been able to do some really cool things and work more efficiently together as we grow. I know for Sussex County where it’s growing so much, it’s been pretty exciting to bring Nanticoke into the system,” he told DBT.
“The idea with Atlantic is now we can think about our region more differently with Berlin playing a new role and we can help with some of the things they need to provide a better service to the community in that area,” Leonard added.
During the transition, TidalHealth plans to continue services as offered, but one of the first investments it may make once the merger is finalized is moving the AGH to cloud-based electronic health records system. That will offer an upgraded continuity of care for patients in both health care systems as they travel between providers in the local area.
Other benefits will work to the advantage of both systems, as well, like recruitment opportunities around its graduate and undergraduate medical programs, as well as other technological advances, Owlery noted.
“We know that providers who train in a more rural environment are more likely to set up shop and stay in that rural environment,” Owrey said. “Workforce planning and medical staff development – that’s an opportunity for us. Workforce is a big issue for both of us. We need more people in health care, not fewer. We’re confident that there will not only be no change in the number of staff here, but that there is still plenty of opportunity in health care.”
In a separate interview, Leonard agreed, touting that the ability to work with AGH’s staff as a plus when it comes to TidalHealth’s plans to grow its presence on the Delmarva peninsula.
“We’re on our way to becoming Maryland’s third largest medical education program. This is education people would have had to head across the bridge for or head up to Christiana. Having another hospital to work with is certainly going to benefit those efforts. And really, I think one of our goals is getting back to care close to home. There’s an evolution to that and anything we can do on those campus [hospitals], we want to be doing,” Leonard said. “I think it’s no secret that the hospitals are pretty busy. Being able to have people treated where it makes sense, closer to home, is important.”
TidalHealth accepts roughly 2,000 patient transfers from nearby hospitals for those who need more acute or trauma-based care or care from the medical education specialties on an annual basis. That includes transfers from AGH, as well as the University of Maryland, Beebe, Riverside Health hospitals in Virginia and others.
“That’s just how it works sometimes. Sometimes they need help with coverage and we’re here for it. But it will certainly be easier for those patients with AGH in the same health system as TidalHealth. We’ll have a continuity of care for them and we’ll be able to help expand services and technology in that system so they can be treated closer to home,” Leonard explained. “I think people should expect great care to continue with the great culture that Atlantic has and now we’ll get to offer some supports, as well.”
