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RICHLAND COUNTY — OhioHealth and MedCentral Health System announced Tuesday they have signed a Letter of Intent to take the next step toward MedCentral becoming a “full member” of the OhioHealth family.
“With a common goal to continue to provide expert care to patients in North Central Ohio, MedCentral Health System and OhioHealth have signed a letter of intent,” said David Eichinger, MedCentral Board of Trustees Chairman, who also said details of the partnership are being worked out and should be completed by the end of this year.
“One of the major considerations in forming this partnership with OhioHealth is their commitment to Shelby (MedCentral Hospital),” Eichinger. “Nothing should change in Shelby. As we speak,everything in Shelby will remain the same.
“OhioHealth is the ideal partner for MedCentral,” Eichinger stated. “They will develop MedCentral as a regional health care hub through expanding, enhancing and growing existing services at both Mansfield and Shelby hospitals.”
Eichinger said a committee comprised of MedCentral Board of Trustee members, physicians, and senior administrators have spent almost two years evaluating potential partners before the board selected OhioHealth.
A news release from MedCentral stated the Letter of Intent is just the beginning of a due diligence process in which both organizations will take a more in-depth look at each other's finances, records and operations. This process is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The release states MedCentral has been an “affiliate” of OhioHealth since 2010 with formal business and clinical relationships currently in place including supply chain support, purchasing services, etc. As a “full member,” OhioHealth would become the parent organization of MedCentral Health System, just as it is to Riverside Methodist Hospital, Grant Medical Center and six other hospitals.
“The healthcare landscape is changing,” said Eichinger. “We are seeing independent hospitals successfully joining larger systems all across the country. And although we are healthy and strong today, we have been looking to become part of a larger system for some time to ensure that we stay strong in the future.
“After a long, thorough and thoughtful review aided by an external consultant, we have decided that OhioHealth is the ideal partner for MedCentral,” Eichinger said. “We are very much alike in our mission, vision and commitment to our patients, staff and the communities we serve. We feel like this is a very natural fit and look forward to working with OhioHealth.”
“MedCentral and OhioHealth have remarkably similar beliefs and cultures which means that, together, we can be successful not only at what we do but how we do it,” said Dave Blom, president and CEO of OhioHealth. “We see MedCentral not simply as a new member of the OhioHealth family, but as a regional hub for healthcare services in Richland County and beyond. We fully expect to make significant investments in Richland County to enhance current facilities, add new facilities where appropriate and to vigorously recruit new physicians to the community. We see a very bright future together for MedCentral and OhioHealth.”
By becoming part of OhioHealth, MedCentral would become an integral part of one of the highest performing healthcare systems in the nation across a broad array of metrics important to patients, physicians, employers, payors and communities.
“This partnership will allow MedCentral to enhance its position as a regional healthcare provider and strengthen its physician platform," said Eichinger. “OhioHealth will commit substantial capital and resources to this community for a new medical office building and new surgical suites at MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital; and other improvements as well as a robust physician recruitment strategy. This generous investment will help ensure that we are able to meet the current and future needs in the six-county area that we serve.”
“This is not only about MedCentral joining the OhioHealth family,” said Blom. “It is also very much about OhioHealth joining the MedCentral family. We both have rich histories going back more than a hundred years in our own communities. We think that by working together, we will be well positioned to continue our healthcare mission for the next hundred years.”
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