PORT ANGELES — Swedish Health Systems’ plan to affiliate with Providence Health & Services won’t dissuade the three North Olympic Peninsula hospitals from forming their own pacts with Swedish.
In fact, the chief executives at Olympic Medical Center and Jefferson Healthcare said a Swedish-Providence affiliation would only improve the health care in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“We think it’s a great opportunity for Providence and Swedish to come together and affiliate on improving care and cost effectiveness,” Jefferson Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Mike Glenn said.
“We think it will only make our affiliation with Swedish better.”
Swedish Health Services and Providence Health & Services, already two of Western Washington’s largest hospital systems, announced Wednesday a plan to create a new not-for-profit entity to operate an even larger health care system in the state.
Leaders of both described their “innovative affiliation” as one driven by economic necessity. They stressed that the move is not a merger or acquisition.
The proposed new entity will include all of Swedish’s operations in King, Snohomish and Kittitas counties and all of Providence’s operations in King, Snohomish, Thurston and Lewis counties.
Providence will keep its name and Catholic identity; Swedish will retain its name and remain a non-religious organization.
After a series of joint board meetings dating back to June 2010, Olympic Medical Center, Jefferson Healthcare and Forks Community Hospital — all formed in public hospital districts on the North Olympic Peninsula — selected Swedish in April as a potential affiliate for patient referrals, clinical services and improving the bottom line.
The idea is to work closely with Swedish — but stay locally owned and independent — to expand the medical services offered on the Peninsula while cutting costs.
Benefits of the contractual relationship would include a state-of-the-art electronic medical record system, physician recruitment and better prices on medical supplies, leaders from all three hospital districts have said.
OMC commissioners will consider approving an affiliation agreement with Swedish on Oct. 19.
Jefferson Healthcare and Forks Community Hospital will follow suit in November.
Swedish and Providence already have eight hospitals and dozens of clinics between them.
“We think it’s great news,” OMC Chief Executive Officer Eric Lewis said of the Swedish-Providence partnership.
“Swedish, by affiliating with Providence, is going to get better.”
If the OMC board approves its own agreement with Swedish, the Port Angeles-based public hospital district would become the first member of the Swedish Health Network, effective Nov. 1.
“The Swedish Health Network will be hospitals that are affiliated with Swedish, but we’re not going to be a merger or an asset deal,” Lewis told hospital commissioners meeting Wednesday night in Port Angeles.
“We’ll still be independent entities, but we’ll be contractually related to each other; we’ll be working together on certain things.”
Some of the first things that OMC wants to do is to implement Epic electronic medical records, form a buying group and expand clinical services, such as neurology, cardiology and sleep medicine, Lewis said.
Separate agreements would be signed as the affiliation expands. The sides would develop a work plan every year.
Forks Community Hospital Executive Assistant Tracy Gillett, after speaking with Administrator Camille Scott, said Thursday that the Providence-Swedish partnership will not affect the West End hospital’s proposed affiliation with Swedish.
“If anything, it heightens the need for us to work together,” Gillett said.
In East Jefferson County, Glenn said Jefferson Healthcare commissioners will hear another presentation on the affiliation Nov. 2 and vote Nov. 16.
“We’ve had multiple public forums in different corners of our district,” Glenn said.
“The majority of input we’ve received has been positive.”
Glenn said an affiliation with Swedish would provide more services to Jefferson County residents and provide a “seamless” referral system.
Likewise, Lewis said the feedback from OMC patients “has been very positive.”
“This can make OMC better and health care better,” he said.
Lewis noted in a Thursday telephone interview that Providence was OMC’s second choice out of seven Western Washington medical centers that it considered.
Providence CEO Dr. John Koster said the economic challenges facing health care motivated the affiliation with Swedish.
“Together, Providence and Swedish can dramatically impact health care cost and access for all who live in the communities we serve,” Koster said in a statement.
Lewis said the Providence-Swedish affiliation “certainly shows the challenges and stresses health care is under.”
OMC will have an annual affiliation fee of $120,000, a number that was determined to be the fair market value. Lewis said becoming a member of a buying group with Swedish will more than cover the fee.
Negotiations on the affiliation agreement took some time because it is the first of its kind in the state, Lewis said.
“And there are very few nationally,” he added.
“I think it’s an important move for us.
“We’re still staying independent, but we’re getting some of the advantages of being part of the system.
“That’s going to help us stay financially afloat, create more jobs locally and benefit our patients a lot by not having to travel to Seattle for services.”
OMC board Chairman Jim Cammack, who has voiced support for the affiliation, described it as “one of the most important decisions” that OMC will make in the coming years.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
