Advanced primary care providers Marathon Health and Everside Health merge

Two advanced primary care providers, Marathon Health and Everside Health, joined forces on Feb. 7 to become a singular enterprise.

Under the name Marathon Health, the new venture will continue offering primary care, occupational health, mental health, pharmacy, and musculoskeletal services to 2.5 million covered lives. Both of the providers contract directly with 630 employers and union-sponsored clients across the US to provide workers with healthcare through physical clinics and telehealth.

“If you think about why both organizations have historically existed and why we’re combining, it’s really to just accelerate our core purpose, which is to enable millions of people to live their healthiest lives,” Marathon CEO Jeff Wells told Healthcare Brew.

Wells comes over from the original Marathon, along with executive chairman Ben Evans. Former Everside CEO Chris Miller left the company.

“It was a difficult decision, but I’ve been CEO for eight years and I’m ready to explore new opportunities and impact healthcare in different ways,” Miller told Healthcare Brew in an email. “The decision was made easier by the ability to transition the CEO role to a talented leader like Jeff Wells.”

A mix of Everside and legacy Marathon employees will make up the new C-suite and 3,000-person workforce, Wells said.

The merger will allow Marathon Health to offer care through 680 health centers in 41 states, in addition to virtual care in 50 states. Rather than a single headquarters, the company will rely on four regional support offices: The Indiana and Vermont locations are former Marathon operations, while the Colorado and North Carolina sites are former Everside hubs.

Among the employers who rely on Marathon Health to care for their workers are the state of Colorado, the US wing of tiremaker Michelin, and Teamsters Local 631 in Las Vegas.

Combined, Wells said that the new Marathon Health has around 25% market share of the advanced primary care industry, a model he said treats about 10 million patients.

Wells declined to comment on the value of the newly formed company. He also said that Marathon Health won’t eliminate clinical teams, but admitted that the company would “optimize” non-clinical employees to “thoughtfully” address redundancies.

Due to the similarities between the companies, Wells said Marathon Health’s company culture will be a natural continuation of its precursors.

“If you take away the window dressing,” Wells said, “our true core values—they’re really shared.”