RWJBarnabas Health has a definitive agreement in place to acquire Englewood Health, a fellow northern New Jersey nonprofit comprising a single 283-bed hospital and a network of more than 100 other locations.
Monday’s announcement did not give a timeline for the deal’s close, but noted state and federal approvals will be necessary. It also described “significant capital investments” RWJBarnabas plans to make in Englewood to expand its outpatient offerings.
“Englewood Health has a long history of providing superior care to the residents of Bergen County and surrounding communities,” Mark E. Manigan, president and CEO of RWJBarnabas Health, said in the announcement. “We look to build upon this history together to enhance access to world-class academic medicine and cutting-edge cancer treatment, as well as expand community programs and vital resources for the most vulnerable.”
West Orange-based RWJBarnabas is an academic system with 14 hospitals, more than 700 patient care locations and partnerships with Rutgers University’s medical institutions. It employs more than 45,000 people and, across 2024, reported nearly $9.6 billion in total revenue and $290.7 million of operating income.
Englewood Health reported $1.2 billion of total revenue and a $32 million operating income in 2024. It employs more than 4,500 people and received top grades for its Englewood Hospital from U.S. News & World Report as well as the Leapfrog Group.
“This transaction will ensure Englewood Health’s ability to deliver world-class care to the communities we serve in a broader way, with greater resources and more cutting-edge technologies,” Warren Geller, president and CEO of Englewood Health, said in the announcement. “Our health systems are coming together under a shared goal of not just providing the best care but increasing access to that care. Through this partnership and by combining resources, we will have the ability to greatly enhance the services we provide to our communities in a way in which we would not be able to accomplish alone.”
Both organizations have recently sought strategic combinations with other New Jersey providers that failed to take hold.
RWJBarnabas, in late 2020, signed a deal to merge with Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, a Catholic nonprofit headlined by its 478-bed Saint Peter’s University Hospital. Though greenlit by state regulators, the plan to create “New Jersey’s first multi-campus premier academic medical center” was scrapped in 2022 after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued on antitrust claims.
Englewood followed a similar trajectory, proposing a deal in late 2019 with Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s other major nonprofit system, that promised similar investments into Englewood’s care capabilities. The FTC launched legal proceedings in 2020 to block the merger, and the pair called things off in 2022.