Holland Hospital, University of Michigan Health to build closer connections with new partnership
Dec 14, 2023
The new clinical partnership
between Holland Hospital and University of Michigan Health provides a framework
for the two organizations to work together that potentially could lead to
deeper ties.
The
three-year strategic affiliation that brings University of Michigan Health
further into the lakeshore health care market stops short of a merger for now,
as Holland Hospital remains one of the few independent hospitals in the
state. As the two organizations get to better know each other through the
partnership, they could decide in the years ahead to go further.
“This
three-year period really provides an opportunity to assess, to see where our
relationship goes, to see what evolves in the marketplace and what makes sense.
There are no pre-determined next steps,” Holland Hospital President Patti
VanDort told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. “It really is an agreement that
says, ‘Hey, let’s see how this goes.’ And after three years, we’ll come back
together and see if it makes sense to continue in the same kind of planning
forum, or to take a different approach in our partnership.’”
The
strategic alliance took effect immediately following approval Dec. 7 by
University of Michigan regents. Holland Hospital directors approved the
arrangement in November.
University
of Michigan Health had already been working with Holland Hospital in clinical
areas such as neurosciences. The strategic alliance intends to bring more
medical specialists from University of Michigan Health to Holland.
The
arrangement gives Holland Hospital the ability to build the kinds of
specialized care that University of Michigan Health offers that it’s unable to
provide on its own, all without combining the two organizations, said Holland Executive Vice President Mark
Pawlak.
The
deal “makes no assumptions for the future directly, but it invites any and all
opportunities for us to work together to serve the lakeshore, and that’s really
the focus that attracts us — it’s about the lakeshore,” Pawlak said. “We
actually believe that our independence working with another organization that
sees the care delivery model the way we do is a better option for us right now.”
The
arrangement comes nearly seven years after the Ann Arbor-based University of
Michigan Health acquired the former Metro Health in Grand Rapids, what’s now
known as University of Michigan Health-West. University of Michigan Health also
acquired Sparrow Health in Lansing earlier this year and has affiliations with
other health systems, including MyMichigan Health in Midland.
As
well, University of Michigan Health partners with Trinity Health in Grand
Rapids and Muskegon on a regional network in cardiovascular and oncology care.
The
latest partnership builds on University of Michigan Health’s push to create a
much broader, statewide footprint, and represents a “natural evolution” of the
existing ties with Holland Hospital, said Dr. Scott Flanders, chief clinical strategy
officer for Michigan Medicine that includes the health system and University of
Michigan’s medical school.
“We’ve
had a great working relationship with Holland and our relationship has been
developing over time,” Flanders said. “That has led to a series of conversations
about how we could continue to create a structure and relationship to allow us
to explore greater opportunities to serve that broader Holland community.”
The
strategic alliance could ultimately lead to Holland becoming part of University
of Michigan Health, Flanders said. He called a merger “one possible outcome,”
although “we’re not at that phase right now.”
“Our
model has never been one that envisions full acquisition of multiple entities,”
Flanders said. “We have a variety of ways we partner with different hospitals
and health systems across the state, and we’ll explore all of those
opportunities with Holland over time.”
A team
from both health systems will now go to work planning and assessing “all the
options” for extending University of Michigan Health’s specialty medical care
to Holland. On the table are clinical areas where Holland has service gaps such
as pediatric subspecialties, dermatology and gastroenterology, Flanders said.
Through
the strategic alliance, Holland Hospital also could become part of the
cardiovascular and oncology regional care networks between Michigan Medicine,
University of Michigan Health-West, and Trinity Health. The two organizations
also will consider developing a new ambulatory care center in Holland.
An
outpatient center would likely go in a geographic location that serves both
Holland Hospital and Wyoming-based University of Michigan Health-West, said
Holland Hospital CEO Dale Sowders.
“Geography’s
important on this and it needs to be supportive of Wyoming as well as Holland.
That will definitely factor into location selection,” Sowders said.
The
medical services housed in a new outpatient center and that University of Michigan
Health brings to Holland “would be based on what is needed here,” VanDort said,
noting the organizations would address questions such as: “What does our
community need? What does our physician base say they’re referring out for?”
“That’s
the approach this planning group will take,” she said.
The
strategic alliance also comes after a clinical partnership with Corewell Health
dissolved a year and a half ago after Holland Hospital sold its equity stake in
a medical center that two co-developed in Grand Haven.
Source: Crains Grand Rapids