BURLINGTON — The corporate parents of two New York hospitals and two from Vermont are joining forces as part of a deal that officials say will improve health care services for patients at all four hospitals.

The hospitals announced Wednesday that the corporate parents of The Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and the Elizabethtown (N.Y.) Community Hospital have joined Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington and Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin.

Elizabethtown CEO Rod Boula said the affiliation will allow for improved continuity of patient care throughout the region, enabling the facilities to provide what he called “seamless and coordinated care by improving access to specialists and information.”

The affiliation took effect Tuesday. Final approval by the New York Supreme Court is expected in about six weeks.