Penn State Hershey and PinnacleHealth select advisor to explore expanded relationship

Penn State Hershey and PinnacleHealth today announced the selection of Cain Brothers & Company as the strategic advisor to guide their exploration of an expanded relationship between the two organizations.

In November, Penn State Hershey and PinnacleHealth announced they were discussing ways to broaden the collaboration between their health care systems, with the goal of improving access to care and increasing the quality and breadth of health care services available to people throughout central Pennsylvania. Any collaboration would also strengthen the important role their hospitals play within the community and enhance the teaching and research missions of both organizations.

“Cain Brothers offers us considerable experience in health care strategic partnership transactions and the ability to explore many different models for expanded collaboration between our two health care enterprises,” said Harold L. Paz, MD, M.S., CEO of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Health System, Penn State's senior vice president for health affairs and dean, Penn State College of Medicine. “Cain Brothers has worked on a variety of health care partnership structures and with a wide range of health care clients that include academic health centers, community hospitals, regional health systems and specialized care facilities.”

Founded in 1982, Cain Brothers is an investment banking firm that focuses exclusively on the health care industry. The firm’s clients include investor-owned and tax-exempt providers, insurers and payers, health care information technology and medical technology companies, and financial sponsors.

“Cain Brothers is honored to have been selected by two preeminent health care organizations and is prepared to assist both organizations in creating a mutually beneficial strategic plan,” said Carsten Beith, managing director at Cain Brothers.

“We look forward to working with Cain Brothers and Penn State Hershey to build on our existing partnerships and find new opportunities to deliver more cost effective, high quality and accessible health care services to the region,” said Michael A. Young, FACHE, president and CEO of PinnacleHealth. “As health care evolves in central Pennsylvania and across the nation, enhanced collaborations between hospitals and health systems can help to build programs and grow services through the coordination of resources and expertise.”

Currently, PinnacleHealth and Penn State Hershey collaborate in a number of ways. Both are joint venture partners in the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute and part owners of Horizon Healthcare Services, a home infusion agency. For more than ten years Penn State Hershey and PinnacleHealth have collaborated on education and training programs for medical students, residents and fellows. The two organizations signed an affiliation agreement in 2010 to further expand this academic partnership.

In the coming months, Cain Brothers will work with leaders from both organizations to help them identify complementary strengths and potential barriers to collaboration, as well as potential models for working together.

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