This story will be updated.
A company that runs testing sites and medical laboratories across the country will take over much of Northern Light Health’s lab services operation.
Under the arrangement, Quest Diagnostics will manage nine of Northern Light’s hospital laboratories as well as the laboratory at Northern Light Cancer Care in Brewer.
Quest, which is acquiring the Northern Light assets in an all-cash transaction, is based in New Jersey and has more than 2,250 lab locations throughout the U.S. Its existing Maine operations are scattered across York and Cumberland counties.
Northern Light, based in Brewer, is the parent organization for 10 hospitals, including Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, and affiliated medical practices.
The acquisition will allow more Maine patients and physicians to access Quest’s testing options and allow for lower out-of-pocket costs for many services, Quest Diagnostics and Northern Light said in a joint statement announcing the transaction.
Quest’s laboratory in Marlborough, Massachusetts, will provide nonurgent advanced and routine clinical testing for physicians and patients now served by Northern Light Laboratory. A Quest rapid response lab in the Bangor area and select Northern Light Health hospital labs will perform tests requiring rapid results.
“Diagnostic testing is a highly specialized and rapidly evolving area of medicine,” Northern Light Health President and CEO Timothy Dentry said. “By collaborating with Quest Diagnostics, the industry leader, Northern Light Health positions itself to deliver the highest level of diagnostic innovation, service and affordability while energizing our core focus on patient care.”
The parties will complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2023, but declined to disclose the financial details of the deal.
