Yale New Haven Health and Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. Thursday announced they have signed an agreement for the Yale health system to acquire Manchester Memorial Hospital, Rockville General Hospital in Vernon and Waterbury Hospital.

The nonprofit Yale system will buy Prospect’s Waterbury HEALTH and ECHN, or Eastern Connecticut Health Network. The deal will include the health systems’ related businesses, real estate assets, physician clinic operations and outpatient services, according to spokesmen for the healthcare organizations.

The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, they said. Yale hopes to complete the transaction later this year.

ECHN and Waterbury HEALTH, with approximately 2,900 employees, would return to not-for-profit status and continue to provide care at their campuses and outpatient locations, the spokesmen said in a news release.

As the organizations move toward a final agreement, Yale New Haven Health is focused on preserving jobs in the local communities and supporting employee pensions, they said. In addition, they will assess the future capital needs of the facilities.

“As we begin to emerge from an international pandemic that has devastated many hospitals across this nation, it is critical that we think creatively about sustaining local access to high quality care,” said Marna P. Borgstrom, CEO of YNHHS. “Innovation has become a watchword for a post-pandemic health care environment, and we are all exploring clear opportunities to enhance access to high-quality care while driving down costs. While this is at a very early stage, our goal is to sustain critical access to vital healthcare services directly in these local communities.”

Under the proposal, the three hospitals would become affiliated with the Yale New Haven Health System, similar to Greenwich, Bridgeport and Lawrence + Memorial hospitals.

As part of Yale New Haven Health, Waterbury HEALTH and ECHN will be able to enhance delivery of care across a wide spectrum of primary and specialty services, said the spokesmen, Vic Petrini from Yale New Haven Health, Nina Kruse of ECHN and Lauresha Xhihani of Waterbury HEALTH.

Christopher O’Connor, president of Yale New Haven Health, said the sale could benefit patients while providing care at a lower cost.

“Working with our partners at the Yale School of Medicine, we believe this could create a seamless and integrated delivery system that would serve the best interests of our patients in the most cost-effective manner possible throughout the state of Connecticut and the entire region,” O’Connor said.

Dr. Keith Churchwell, president of Yale New Haven Hospital, agrees.

“This relationship makes sense from a patient care perspective,” he said. “We believe patients will benefit directly from the affiliation of these exceptional health systems with a Connecticut-based academic health system like Yale New Haven.”

Deborah Weymouth, CEO of ECHN, said, “We are excited about the opportunity to join YNHHS. We are proud of our accomplishments and appreciative of the significant investments made by Prospect to increase quality, preserve jobs and respond to the pandemic.”

Dr. Justin Lundbye, president and CEO of Waterbury HEALTH, said, “Waterbury is deeply committed to caring for our communities and adapting to the rapidly evolving health care landscape. Along with ECHN, we are proud of what we’ve accomplished, including investing millions of dollars in our communities, preserving jobs, increasing quality ratings, and being leaders in Connecticut’s response to the pandemic. We are confident YNHHS will continue this legacy.”

Christine Dempsey may be reached at cdempsey@courant.com.