by Staff | Sep 28, 2011 1:37 pm

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New Haven’s two major hospitals have come to terms about how to become one.

Yale-New Haven and the Hospital of St. Raphael announced the signing Wednesday of the “definitive agreement” to merge—and set the stage for one of the biggest changes in decades in the local health-care landscape.

The deal calls for Yale-New Haven to take over the financially struggling St. Raphe’s and create “one integrated hospital,” with the Chapel Street St. Raphe’s campus maintaining its “ethical and religious directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” according to a joint press release. (Click here to read the full release.)

The proposed merger now goes before state regulators.

Click here for an earlier story detailing the issues surrounding the deal and some public reaction.

The hospitals combined have some 12,000 employees and 1,477 beds.

New Haven State Rep. Pat Dillon said she’ll be watching the process closely because so many jobs are at stake.

She said she worries about the effects of federal budget cuts, as well as the financial risks Yale-New Haven will assume from St. Raphe’s. On the other hand, she welcomed the news that the combined hospital will preserve the Chapel Street campus and therefore preserve people’s access to health care.

The hospitals did not release the actual agreement itself. No word yet on if both campuses will be called “Yale-New Haven Hospital.”