Houston Healthcare, a community-based, not-for-profit health system located in Warner Robins and Perry, Georgia, and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive academic health system located in Atlanta, announced today they have approved the initial steps and continuation process for Houston Healthcare to join the Emory Healthcare system.

Both the Emory and Houston Healthcare Boards have finalized the terms of a definitive agreement, which specifies the details and provisions of Houston Healthcare’s integration into Emory Healthcare. The health systems have also filed for customary regulatory approvals, a process that will take several months to complete.

In August 2024, the two organizations announced they signed a non-binding Letter of Intent for Houston Healthcare to join Emory Healthcare. Since then, the parties have been working through the due diligence phase, exploring the potential affiliation. With this step finalized and the negotiation of the definitive agreement completed, the organizations will work to finalize all necessary regulatory reviews and approvals. The last step will be closing the transaction, which is anticipated to occur in the coming months.

“Houston Healthcare remains committed to serving its community with expanded care options and services through the new affiliation with Emory Healthcare,” says Charles G. Briscoe, FACHE, president and CEO of Houston Healthcare. “For more than 60 years, Houston has been dedicated to excellence in health care and continues this mission moving forward.”

Houston Healthcare is a community-based health system headquartered in Warner Robins, Georgia. Comprised of two hospital campuses with a combined 282 beds plus five outpatient facilities and nine physician practices, Houston Healthcare has been serving Houston County and all of Central Georgia since 1960. The organization provides a full suite of medical services with 2,500 employees and 200 physicians serving more than 300,000 patients annually.

Emory Healthcare, with 26,400 employees and 10 hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. System-wide, it has 2,811 licensed patient beds, more than 3,450 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties, serving metro Atlanta and Georgia. It also provides services to greater Georgia through a joint venture at St. Francis–Emory Healthcare in Columbus, six regional affiliate hospitals and its clinically integrated physician network.