The possible St. Mary’s Hospital acquisition by Cabell Huntington Hospital was the main point Cabell Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Monte Ward talked about as the guest speaker at the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce luncheon Friday at Ohio University Southern.

“We don’t want to lose what we’ve already established,” Ward said. “The two facilities both have unique services and in doing this, it will keep the cost of health care low. Our hope is that we will build on that through this acquisition.”

The acquisition is not yet final and is currently in the process of being reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission.

“The acquisition was announced publicly in June last year,” Doug Korstanje, director of marketing and community relations at St. Mary’s, said. “Now the main hurdle is getting the FTC to approve it. We’ll find out in August or September at the earliest, but it could be next year. We’ve had tremendous community support for this initiative and businesses have been very supportive. Having it approved is looking hopeful, but you never know.”

During his presentation, Ward said if Cabell acquires St. Mary’s, St. Mary’s will keep its name and everything they do will continue to stay the same.

“We want to expand further the services that we offer and bring even more services that are currently being sent to other larger facilities back to our facilities,” Ward said. “Both facilities also support Marshall University’s Jones C. Edwards School of Medicine, and we want to make sure that we continue and expand that support.”

Ward started at Cabell as its controller in 1978 and was promoted to CFO in 1982. In 2013, he was named to the list of “25 Hospital and Health System CFOss to Know,” by Becker’s Hospital Review, a national source of business and legal information for hospital and health system leaders.