Mountain States Health Alliance

Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA), formed in 1998, is the largest health care system in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Our approximately 9,000 team members, associated physicians and volunteers bring loving care to health care every day in each of our facilities.

TENNESSEE and VIRGINIA – The boards of directors of Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System have voted unanimously to approve the final terms that will govern their merger, forming a new health system to serve the 1.2 million residents of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The transaction creating the new organization, named Ballad Health, officially became effective at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1, 2018.  A formal launch will be held on Friday, Feb. 2.

The final vote marks the end of a nearly four-year merger process that began when Mountain States responded to a request for proposals from Wellmont inviting health systems to outline potential partnerships. The Wellmont board selected the proposal from Mountain States because of its unique vision to create a health improvement organization, limit health care pricing growth, maintain local governance, and invest in the region. Alternatives to the Mountain States proposal would have led to higher pricing, loss of local governance, and nearly 1,000 lost jobs. The proposed merger of Wellmont and Mountain States drew broad support from employers and business leaders, the region’s chambers of commerce, local governments and the legislative delegation.

The merger was made possible through the passage of legislation in Tennessee and Virginia, which was supported by the governors of both states due to the unique nature of the region. The legislation authorized the issuance of a certificate of public advantage (COPA) in Tennessee and a cooperative agreement in Virginia, and represents the first transaction of its kind to involve approval and supervision from two states. It is the largest COPA-governed merger in the country to date.