A tale of two systems: a personal account of a successful consolidation

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This isn't a "tale of two cities." It's a tale of two Catholic health care systems in one city. For nearly a century, we were vigorous competitors. We were forced to consolidate our operations in 1987 as a result of the consolidation of our national Health Care sponsors. This is a detailed account of how that consolidation was achieved.