Greenville Health, Palmetto Health Rebrand as 'Prisma Health'

The two South Carolina health systems, which merged last year, say the rebranding under one name reflects a unified commitment to improve care delivery in the Palmetto State.

Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health will finalize a consolidation that began last year and rebrand as Prisma Health, the two South Carolina health systems said Tuesday.

Since late 2017, the two systems have been affiliates in the largest not-for-profit health system in the state, operating under a parent company with the interim name of SC Health Company.

That parent company is being rebranded as Prisma Health and both health systems will adopt the new name in early 2019. However, the 13 hospitals in the combined system will retain their core name identities, such as Baptist, Greenville Memorial, Laurens County, Richland and Tuomey.

The two health systems said in a joint media release that coming together under one new brand reflects their commitment to South Carolina.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for our organization," said Prisma Health Co-CEO Charles D. Beaman Jr.

"With a motivated 30,000-team-member workforce, we’re confident we will continue to make strides to improve clinical quality, access to care and the patient experience for South Carolinians, while addressing the rising cost of healthcare," said Beaman, the former CEO of Palmetto Health.  

South Carolina has some of the nation's highest rates of obesity, diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. With the merger, Prisma Health says it now has the scale, scope and resources to address those population health issues, while continuing to be a not-for-profit, mission-driven organization.

When the two systems merged last year, no name changes were planned. However, Prisma Health Co-CEO Michael C. Riordan said plans changed when leadership realized that a single health company with a unified culture needed to unite under one name.

"We've already learned so much from each other," said Riordan, the former CEO at Greenville Health. "What we’re doing now will pave the way for transformative changes to health care in South Carolina. And through our efforts, we've already identified ways to achieve more together by operating as one organization under a single name and brand identity."

Brad Haller, director of West Monroe Partners' Mergers & Acquisitions practice, says the consolidation has made sense for two health systems with a healthy footprint in South Carolina.

"Combining the two under one umbrella is a good geographic play in that it connects the western part of the state with the central part of the state. While these are the two largest health systems in the state, there is still a healthy amount of 'competition' from other providers," Haller says.

The deal is representative of larger M&A trends in the healthcare sector, where Haller says "everything is about cost take-out and building scale against the payers," which he says is the primary strategic driver for most consolidations.

"Prisma" is a variation on the "prism," which Merriam-Webster defined as "a medium that distorts, slants, or colors whatever is viewed through it."

Prisma Health said the new name "reflects the diverse, multifaceted nature of the organization and its team members, as well as the bright future that lies ahead."

The health system says "the name and distinctive logo distinguish Prisma Health from traditional healthcare systems and signal its intent to look at health, and health care, in a completely new way.

The existing GHS and Palmetto Health brands, including their names and logos, will be retired in early 2019. Additionally, both affiliates have replaced their mission, vision and values statements with a new Purpose Statement."