Rob Casalou, St. Joseph Mercy regional president and CEO, will serve as president and CEO of the merged system, effective Jan. 1, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Florida, Indiana, and Michigan.
- Florida: BayCare Health System is partnering with Publix supermarket chain to open 25 walk-in telehealth kiosks at four Publix stores. The kiosks are slated to open at the Publix stores—located in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough, and Polk Counties—over the next two years, with the first scheduled to open next month. At the private kiosks, patients will be connected to board-certified physicians for non-urgent medical care, and medical instruments—such as thermometers and blood pressure cusps—will be available in the kiosks. A visit will cost $45 (O'Connor, Hospitals & Health Networks, 11/16).
- Indiana: The Indiana State Department of Health on Wednesday launched a no-cost mobile application to curb the state's infant mortality rate by helping women improve their health during pregnancy. The health department said the app provides nutrition information, an interactive calendar, as well as articles and checklists based on "best medical practices." In addition, the app displays contact information for health care providers, government aid programs, and food banks (AP/WANE, 11/16).
- Michigan: Trinity Health is joining St. Joseph Mercy Health System and Mercy Health into a single statewide system. Rob Casalou, St. Joseph Mercy regional president and CEO, will serve as president and CEO of the merged system, effective Jan. 1. The combined system will include 10 hospitals, 12 urgent care centers, nine outpatient health centers, and 35 specialty facilities, and employ about 22,500 individuals (Frank, Modern Healthcare, 11/15).
Get the cheat sheet for hospital partnership and affiliation models
Behind the flurry of M&A in recent years, a deeper trend of hospital integration is underway: the emergence of alternative partnerships that secure many of the same benefits of M&A without the financial and legal commitment: Clinical affiliation, regional collaborative, accountable care organization, and clinically integrated network.
This guide defines these types of partnerships and offers benefits, drawbacks, and examples of organizations in each.