Founders

Summit Health traces its beginnings to October 1919, when co-founders William H. Lawrence, MD, and Maynard G. Bensley, MD established the company as Summit Medical Group in Summit, New Jersey.^[6] The two had met in the United States Army's World War I Ambulance Company 33, which Lawrence had organized, and which was later headed by Bensley. Lawrence attained the rank of Major, and Bensley attained the rank of Captain, in their participation in the ambulance company.^[7] Lawrence was in charge of the unit for a year until he became ill in 1918, and Bensley then led it until it was disbanded a year later.^[7][8] The teamwork they experienced as army medical staff led them to try to replicate the idea in civilian life, and they founded the first team medicine practice in New Jersey in 1919. In 1931, they expanded into a group practice with a total of seven or eight doctors.^[9][10] While the original partnership "team" was known as Summit Health, the group practice was organized as the Lawrence-Bensley Medical Group,^[9] but eventually readopted the Summit name.

Lawrence enrolled in Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons at the age of 15.^[11] He became a surgeon, founder of Overlook Hospital, and a resident of Murray Hill.^[6]

Bensley was originally from Hamburg, New York, (born in Buffalo),^[12][13][14] the son of a local banker, George A. Bensley, and Margaret Woodruff.^[15] He attended the University of Michigan and the University of Buffalo, from which he received his medical degree in 1910.^[16][17][14] He started practicing medicine as a surgeon and general practitioner, but became an obstetrician in 1931. He lived in Summit and Maplewood, New Jersey.^[18][19] Bensley died on March 23, 1985, at the age of 95.^[14] His wife, Helen Flemer Plunkett, who performed a community medicine auxiliary role, died July 5, 2007, at the age of 108.^[20] They were married in 1938.^[21]

Growth

In 1950, Lawrence and Bensley expanded to a second location at 120 Summit Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. In 2003, Summit Medical Group signed a lease for a 42-acre office complex in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey that formerly housed the D&B Corporation.^[22]

In 2013, Summit Medical Group established the Summit Medical Group Foundation, a nonprofit organization operating in the segments of health promotion, medical research and medical education.^[23]

In 2014, Summit Medical Group launched a new management company, Summit Health Management (SHM). SHM offers consulting and management services to physician practices in the United States.^[24]

In 2019, Summit Medical Group merged with CityMD.

In 2021, the company was renamed Summit Health, and Summit Medical Group Foundation was subsequently renamed Summit Health Cares.

As of April 2022, Summit Health includes more than 200 satellite offices across northern New Jersey and New York.^[25]

In November 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance's primary-care-center subsidiary, Village Practice Management agreed to buy Summit Health in a deal worth nearly $9 billion, including debt.^[26] The acquisition was completed in January 2023.