Baylor Health Care System, Scott & White to Merge

Baylor Scott & White Health will be governed by one board made up of 28 members, with an even number representing each organization. Drayton McLane, Jr., will be the initial chairman of the board of Baylor Scott & White Health. The chair-elect is Jim Turner, who currently serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Baylor.

McLane has been chair of Scott & White's board of trustees for over 12 years, serving on the board there for a total of 26 years. He says the merger creates an opportunity to deliver healthcare to an area that was out of reach—Dallas-based Baylor is 121 miles north of Scott & White.

"We always wanted to be involved with a healthcare system that stretched over a wide geographical area, where you didn't have to get two or three hospital systems," said McLane.

Allison says the two organizations have had the opportunity to collaborate previously, which helped when the two broached possibly merging.

"We have worked together in the past [via] our association through The Healthcare Coalition of Texas. We are also the only two Texas systems that are part of the High Value Healthcare Collaborative that includes a small number of leading healthcare systems in the country, including Mayo Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare, UCLA Healthcare... some of the leading [hospitals] that are committed to quality," explained Allison.