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A North Carolina health care provider and a university’s medical school came closer on Friday to a name change following a vote by the school’s trustees.

The board of trustees at East Carolina University unanimously approved a joint operating agreement to combine the school’s Brody School of Medicine and Vidant to create ECU Health, news outlets reported. The vote is the first step in the final approval process.

The respective sides will retain their separate identities but will operate as a collaboration under a shared brand which is expected to launch next year. ECU Physicians and most entities under the Vidant umbrella will operate as ECU Health, but the Brody School of Medicine will not change its name, officials said.

The agreement also requires approvals from the Vidant Health Board of Directors, Vidant Medical Center Board of Trustees, the Pitt County commissioners and the UNC Board of Governors. The UNC board is expected to consider the agreement for final approval during its meeting on Nov. 17-18, according to a news release.

If approved, the change would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

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