Princeton HealthCare Systems decision to become a part of the University of Pennsylvanias medical division will mean more care for Central Jersey residents suffering from complex medical conditions, the head of Princeton HealthCare said Thursday.

So we are anxious to be able to take care of people who, now, we would discharge from our emergency department or from the hospital to another provider for care, President and CEO Barry S. Rabner told the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce.

So in partnership with Penn, we expect to be able to do more locally with cancer care, neurosciences, womens health services, he said in citing examples.

At the same time, he offered some perspective of how he envisioned the flagship hospital on Route 1 once it becomes part of Penn Medicine.

We do not aspire to become the Penn that you know downtown or Johns Hopkins or Mass General or New York Presbyterian or any other of these terrific hospitals, Rabner said. But we do expect to be able to provide more care in the acute care hospital for more complex medical cases than we do now.

Earlier in his remarks, Rabner outlined the decision to join Penn Medicine, one of the top financially performing health systems in the country.

I guess, in a word, the reason were doing it is you, because you folks, as employers, have finally hit the wall in terms of how much youre able to pay in premiums for your health insurance, either for your employees or for your family, he said. And weve been predicting that wall for thirty or forty years, but its actually happening.

He said the pressure that customers put on their health insurers, in turns leads companies like Horizon to pressure hospitals to reduce costs.

So weve been working on it, Rabner said, but it hasnt been enough.

He said Princeton HealthCare looked at 17 different potential partners, a yearlong process that ended with the selection of Penn Medicine. The two sides signed an agreement a few months ago, although New Jersey and federal regulators have to approve. Some 16,000 pages of information, for example, had to be submitted to the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office, with a review taking anywhere from six to nine months. Rabner was confident the state would approve.

Were really optimistic about the outcome because, at the end of the day, hundreds of millions of dollars are coming into New Jersey to be used by a not-for-profit organization to improve clinical care and access to the people of the state, he said. So thats as close to motherhood and apple pie as I can think of.

Rabner said Penn Medicine would make capital investments to improve Princetons clinical capabilities, its information technology system, among other things. None of that can happen until regulators approve.

But the challenge for us is, the way the rules work, were not allowed to actually do anything practical until we have all the governmental approvals in place, Rabner said. So were spending a lot of time being nice to each other, thinking and planning, so that the day after we get the approvals, we can move forward and make the investments that are necessary.

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Princeton Healthcare CEO: Partnership with Penn Medicine means 'more care' - Packet Online