The big news in Erie today is the announcement of a merger between Saint Vincent Health Center and Cincinnati-based Catholic Health Partners. Rumors of the merger have been circulating for days, but it became official today.

As Saint Vincent is one of Erie's largest employers, this is big news -- huge news. And, normally, it would be reported immediately by the Erie Times-News on its Go.Erie.com Web site. Our readers count on us to deliver news as quickly and completely as possible, and the upgraded Web site makes that possible.

But because hospital officials were sensitive about addressing the merger with their employees first, they requested that the newspaper hold off on the story. Because we're in the news business, this is something that is very rarely done. In fact, I can't remember the last time we delayed reporting such a major story. But, after careful consideration, Times-News executive editor Rick Sayers told Saint Vincent officials that the newspaper would delay breaking the story on the Web site until 5 p.m. That way, hospital officials could talk to employees first.

That's the inside story, and I thought you might be interested. As details of the merger become available, we'll follow up with more coverage, as we always do.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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