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Bethesda Announces Merger and Name Change

090516/01

Watertown, Wis. (May 16, 2009) -- Bethesda Lutheran Homes and Services has announced its formal merger with Good Shepherd Communities. The decision was reached at a special meeting of Bethesda’s membership on Saturday.

Good Shepherd, which operates in four western states, has been a wholly controlled subsidiary of Bethesda since 2006. The combined organization has 3,000 employees and an annual operating budget of $155 million. The merger will be effective September 1 and will result in a single corporation with a new name, Bethesda Lutheran Communities.

Good Shepherd has been tied to Bethesda since its founding. In 1949, a family traveled from California to Watertown to inquire about placing their son on a waiting list for admission to Bethesda. Unable to meet their son’s needs, Bethesda provided consultation and funding assistance to establish Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of the West, later known as Good Shepherd Communities.

In November of 2008, Bethesda’s Board of Directors made the recommendation to affect the formal merger. That recommendation was preceded by a year-long study of Bethesda’s mission, vision and values with relation to the strength of its identity.

“The words ‘Bethesda’ and ‘Lutheran’ were simply deemed to be core to our identity”, says Dr. John E. Bauer, president and CEO of Bethesda, ‘Communities’ is a natural choice not only because of the Good Shepherd Communities legacy, but because it accurately describes our ministry. Our work is found in neighborhood communities around the country and we work to build up faith communities that welcome and nurture spiritual lives.”

Bethesda’s corporate headquarters will remain in Watertown where the organization was founded in 1904. Now in its second century, Bethesda provides services to 2,000 individuals with developmental disabilities throughout the country. Together with partner agencies, they also provide support in numerous international locations including Romania, Latvia, Russia, Kenya, Tanzania and the Dominican Republic.

For more information on Bethesda’s services and support programs, call the public relations office at 800.369.4636, ext. 3817, or e-mail: pr@mailblc.org.