Just a few days before a press conference between Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System to discuss a possible partnership, an email from MSHA CEO Alan Levine appears to confirm that the partnership is going to happen.

The email was sent to all MSHA employees on Tuesday afternoon after word started to circulate about a press conference on Thursday to discuss the possible partnership. The press conference has since been scheduled for today at 2 p.m. at Kingsport’s MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center.

“So today, I am sharing with you that yes, our Board and Wellmont’s Board have decided to agree on a partnership,” Levine wrote in the email. “An agreement has not yet been signed, but we anticipate that will happen in the next 24 hours.”

The authenticity of the email was confirmed by MSHA communication officials.

“We can confirm that it was our email,” Teresa Hicks, MSHA Communications Manager said. “We will be happy to discuss this and answer any questions when we meet with the media later this week.”

The Star obtained a copy of the email, which was addressed to “MSHA Everyone.” The email shares a story of how MSHA employees helped a patient and their family and then goes on to discuss the upcoming merger.

“While an agreement has not yet been signed, I will confirm for you that, for the past year, Wellmont has been engaged in a process of evaluating various options for their system,” Levine wrote in the email. “Given the multitude of serious challenges faced by health systems throughout the nation, this was the responsible thing for them, and for us, to do. As our Board evaluated these external challenges, and our own options, we came to the unanimous conclusion that the solutions to these problems were local. In fact, the solution was right before us. That solution, we believe, is for Wellmont and Mountain States to join together in the formation of a new system focused on not only surviving as a health delivery system, but to embrace an even bigger mission of measurably improving the overall health of our region.”

For more than a year, local officials have discussed the potential merger. The health system’s board of directors started working last January and narrowed the number of potential merger partners over the months.

Levine wrote in the email that he sent it after watching a report on the possible merger from a local TV news station.

“Last night, some of our regional news organizations ran a story effectively announcing a merger between Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System,” he wrote. “As members of the Mountain States Health Alliance team, you deserve better than to hear news like that from public sources before you have heard it from us directly. And so I regret this story. Unfortunately, there are things outside our control.”

Levine made five promises to the MSHA employees in the email:

τ We will communicate directly with you

τ It will not simply be a merger of assets, as most hospital transactions are. It will be the creation of a Health Improvement Organization designed, in its DNA to be among the best health systems in the nation, with a sincere focus on improving the overall health of our region – and not just providing great hospital care.

τ It will involve a partnership with a major Academic institution that is committed to investing in research to help solve our region’s challenges.

τ It will involve enhancement in access for mental health and addiction recovery services

τ It will keep any synergies here at home rather than sending them off to systems based elsewhere whose priorities may be very different than ours.

If the merger is finalized, it would create a health care system of 19 hospitals and more than 15,000 employees.

The full text of the email is below:

To my Mountain States Colleagues:

Good Afternoon! First, I’d like to tell you a story. It was something I saw this weekend that was so magical and good, that I felt I needed to share it.

We have a young lady who is a patient at Johnson City Medical Center. Her diagnosis is serious and her prognosis is poor. Last week, while talking to one of her wonderful nurses, and knowing her prognosis, she said, “I’m probably going to be going home, and what I’d really like more than anything is for my Daddy to be able to take me to see Cinderella.” The new Cinderella movie is a Disney film currently playing in the movie theatres.As a father with a daughter the same age, just seeing those words on my computer screen makes me pause. All she wanted was to be with her daddy to see a movie.

Well, our team at the Med Center got right to work. I’m told only three times in history has Disney permitted the private use of their movies while still in Theater. Our team called the right people, and within a few days, we had the movie. A room was made up to be a private salon. Miss Tenneessee, Miss Jonesborough, Miss Kingsport and several other wonderful young ladies came to see our patient. Our patient was brought to the salon where she selected a gown and our staff gave her a Cinderella makeover. Her nurses were dressed like the fairy godmother, and we even had a prince charming. Our patient was brought down to the entrance of the surgery center, where a private chariot — and her daddy, dressed as prince charming, awaited her. She did not have the strength to ride the chariot, but her parents did. From there, she was escorted by friends and family to a room with a red carpet, and her own private showing of Cinderella.

I sat there the entire movie and watched her father and mother sit by her side, holding her hand. Incidentally, her parents are hard of hearing, so the movie had subtitles. Yes, the team thought through that level of detail.

Now, I’m not going to lie….I really enjoyed the movie. But more so, I could not possibly have been more inspired by the team, and what they did for this patient. It was a gift in its truest sense, given without any strings attached. What our staff saw was a young lady who just wanted to do something special with her daddy. I can’t think of anything that better tells the story of who we are.

Normally, I’d use this story as an example of what makes Mountain States so special. And I do believe that. But, the reality is, this is not necessarily a story about how special Mountain States is. It is really a story about a culture and region…where we take care of our own. A culture where our faith is more than just going to church on Sunday. A place where many grew up together, and raise their kids together. A culture where throughout our region, we know each other, we play sports with (and against) each other. It is a culture in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia that is so special.

I was in Kingsport recently at a restaurant where I had stopped for lunch. I looked over as a man with his two boys sat at the table next to mine. Before they began eating, one of the boys led who I suppose was his brother and father in a blessing. I thought to myself that where I came from, that was not the culture. A small, quiet prayer to give thanks.

This is what unites our region. Notwithstanding what little divides us, as a region, we are all very much the same. And we are being challenged like never before by outside influences. In healthcare, we know what those are. Culturally, we know what those are.

And as always, I believe the answers to our problems are here in our region. We have the right culture and we care enough to do what must be done to serve others. Sometimes, those things are hard to do. Other times, the answer is right before us. But the truth is, no one will care more about our region than we will, and by we, I mean ALL of us.

Last night, some of our regional news organizations ran a story effectively announcing a merger between Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System.

As members of the Mountain States Health Alliance team, you deserve better than to hear news like that from public sources before you have heard it from us directly. And so I regret this story. Unfortunately, there are things outside our control.

While an agreement has not yet been signed, I will confirm for you that, for the past year, Wellmont has been engaged in a process of evaluating various options for their system. Given the multitude of serious challenges faced by health systems throughout the nation, this was the responsible thing for them, and for us, to do. As our Board evaluated these external challenges, and our own options, we came to the unanimous conclusion that the solutions to these problems were local. In fact, the solution was right before us. That solution, we believe, is for Wellmont and Mountain States to join together in the formation of a new system focused on not only surviving as a health delivery system, but to embrace an even bigger mission of measurably improving the overall health of our region.

Many hospital systems throughout the nation have succumbed to these pressures by selling to, or merging with, larger systems – often based elsewhere and out of market. I have communicated multiple times, on behalf of the unanimous opinion of our Board, that we do not believe the answers to our challenges lie in communities elsewhere. We believe the answer to our challenges is right here at home in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. We simply believe that there is no organization that will be more passionate about our community, our employers, and our next generation, than we will be. We face children today who are addicted to drugs. Families broken up by the economy. Kids who can achieve success if they would only master the art of reading at grade level. Among the highest teen smoking rates. One of the highest rates of cancer, diabetes and heart disease in the nation. Challenges in access to needed mental health services—— I could go on. All of us know these challenges are the reason our rates of hospitalization are among the highest in the nation. Wellmont and Mountain States have way more in common than what divides us, and frankly, our common competitor is the poor health status of our region. It is our responsibility – our mission – to make this community a healthier place for the next generation. Providing loving health care is very important. But it becomes less necessary if our families don’t need the health care because we’ve found a way to help them achieve better health. This is something we are committed to.

These are the things our Board has been talking about. I’m proud of that. It demonstrates a level of ownership of our community’s health that many organizations don’t think is their responsibility. We believe it is ours, and we are prepared to do something about it.

So today, I am sharing with you that yes, our Board and Wellmont’s Board have decided to agree on a partnership. An agreement has not yet been signed, but we anticipate that will happen in the next 24 hours. We will share much more information and more details with you between now and Thursday. In the mean time I make you these pledges:

1. We will communicate directly with you

2. It will not simply be a merger of assets, as most hospital transactions are. It will be the creation of a Health Improvement Organization designed, in its DNA, to be among the best health systems in the nation, with a sincere focus on improving the overall health of our region – and not just providing great hospital care.

3. It will involve a partnership with a major Academic institution that is committed to investing in research to help solve our region’s challenges.

4. It will involve enhancement in access for mental health and addiction recovery services.

5. It will keep any synergies here at home rather than sending them off to systems based elsewhere whose priorities may be very different than ours.

Let me close by saying this. Hospitals are really nothing more than buildings. What makes our region special – and I say this about Mountain States and Wellmont – are the people, the love, the compassion and the caring that goes on inside the walls. THAT is what makes us so special, and that is what binds us together as a region. Pulling both of these systems together opens opportunity for our region that we could never achieve apart, in my opinion.

I look forward to sharing more in the next couple of days. In the meantime, please keep doing the great work you are doing. You are the best.

Alan