Grand Rapids’ Priority Health, Detroit’s Total Health Care Merge

Priority Health in Grand Rapids and Total Health Care, a Detroit-based health maintenance organization, have agreed to merge. Both companies will maintain current operations, locations, leadership, and staff, and the transaction is expected to be complete in early 2020. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Priority Health and Total Health Care plan to complete their merger in 2020. // Stock photo

Priority Health in Grand Rapids and Total Health Care, a Detroit-based health maintenance organization, have agreed to merge. Both companies will maintain current operations, locations, leadership, and staff, and the transaction is expected to be complete in early 2020. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of the merger, the companies will establish a $25 million foundation that will work to improve health in Detroit-area communities.

Priority Health was founded more than 30 years ago and served more than 1 million members in Michigan this year. It has had a presence in southeast Michigan for more than 10 years through its Southfield office, and its membership in the region has grown 63 percent over the past five years.

“I have a great deal of respect for the leadership team at Total Health Care and the business that they have built,” says Joan Budden, president and CEO of Priority Health. “Throughout my long career in the region and as a Detroit native, I’ve seen first-hand their passion for serving their members and their commitment to the Detroit community.”

Total Health Care was first incorporated as Model Neighborhood Total Health Care in 1973 and was originally federally subsidized. It serves members in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, and Monroe counties and offers a system that includes more than 2,560 health care centers, 2,050 primary care physicians, and 4,500 specialists.

“This partnership with Priority Health, one of Michigan’s leading health insurance plans, will provide Total Health Care with additional resources and stability and allow us to continue to provide our members with the quality care they have come to expect from Total Health Care at a price they can afford,” says Randy Narowitz, CEO of Total Health Care. “Our shared business values focus on serving the member and commitment to the Detroit community, (making) this a great fit for both companies.”

In 2018, Priority Health provided more than $138 million in community benefit across the state, including partnerships with more than 30 metro Detroit organizations in 2018 to support community, charitable, and business programming. The company has more than 1,200 employees.