The Democrat & Chronicle has a little more on a story we reported yesterday about United Memorial Medical Center moving toward a closer relationship with Rochester General Hospital.
While we the information we were given seemed to indicate no formal agreement between the two hospitals, the D&C reports an affiliation agreement is being negotiated.
Clement called the discussions a “work in progress” and while there is no formal agreement, he said talks are likely to result in one.
At the same time, he said RGHS is working with officials at United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia to expand their four-year collaboration into an affiliation agreement.
In an affiliation, the hospitals still govern themselves. This is not a merger. It would provide more specialized services to patients.
“From the patient perspective, they should be very happy with it,” said Mark Schoell, president and chief executive officer of United Memorial. “Whether they recognize it or not explicitly, implicitly they’ve seen the results of some of the collaboration. I think when they see some of the programs that we’ll be able to put together, they will find this a good thing. We’ll have access to a lot of expertise in a smaller community you don’t normally see.”
While the D&C doesn't discuss ACOs under the Affordable Care Act, the article does say the act is accelerating the move toward affiliations, quoting Schoell, “we would have continued down this path without health care reform.”
The article concludes:
Schoell said it should lead to better results. “In the past, the patients we had to transfer out of the area will be able to stay in our hospital. It provides the support we need for the rest of our medical staff.”
