Quest Diagnostics, a provider of diagnostic information services, and Northern Light Health, a large integrated healthcare system in Maine, announced a strategic laboratory collaboration designed to broaden access to innovative, quality and cost-effective laboratory services powering affordable care for communities in Maine.
Under a definitive agreement, Quest will acquire select assets of Northern Light Health’s outreach laboratory services business, named Northern Light Laboratory. Quest will also provide professional laboratory management services for nine of Northern Light Health’s hospital laboratories, along with its cancer center laboratory at Northern Light Cancer Care in Brewer, Maine.
The collaboration will enable physicians and patients throughout Maine to benefit from access to Quest’s diagnostic test menu, network of patient access sites throughout the state, broad health plan coverage, and more. Quest’s laboratory in Marlborough, Mass. will provide non-urgent advanced and routine clinical testing for physicians and patients now serviced by Northern Light Laboratory. A Quest rapid response lab in the Bangor, Maine 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. 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,” says Timothy J. Dentry, president and CEO of Northern Light Health.
Northern Light Health selected Quest Diagnostics following a competitive bid. The parties expect to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2023. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Diagnostic insights are the bedrock of quality, high-value healthcare. Through our clinical expertise, technological innovation and national scale, Quest enables top health systems like Northern Light Health to optimize their laboratory services for clinical value and patient affordability,” says James E. Davis, CEO and president of Quest Diagnostics. “Our collaboration with Northern Light Health reflects our goal to broaden access to these critical diagnostic insights, so more people and families in Maine can lead healthier lives.”
