PeaceHealth, UW Medicine Sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement

From Amy Cloud PeaceHealth Public Information Officer

UW Medicine and PeaceHealth have signed an agreement to make UW Medicine the preferred healthcare system of choice for complex tertiary and quaternary care for patients receiving care in PeaceHealth’s Northwest Network, officials announced.

The agreement, effective Sept. 12, 2013, does not involve a change in ownership or governance of either UW Medicine or PeaceHealth. The strategic collaboration will provide PeaceHealth patients with prompt access to complex tertiary and quaternary care when needed.

“This strategic collaboration will support UW Medicine’s mission to improve the health of the public by providing more seamless access to UW Medicine clinical services for many patients in the northwest,” said Paul Ramsey, M.D., CEO of UW Medicine. “We are committed to continue our full array of services including those related to reproductive health and end-of-life care. Our services will be available to a larger population of patients.”

The collaboration will allow the systems to increase access and to identify opportunities for ongoing performance improvement to reduce costs and enhance patient safety through the sharing and broader use of best practices.

“We have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with UW Medicine, and we’re pleased to develop this collaboration for our Northwest Network patients,” said Alan Yordy, president and chief mission officer for PeaceHealth. “As healthcare systems ready themselves for reform, we will continue to see a wide array of relationships between hospitals and healthcare systems.”

Such alliances are vital in the process of achieving healthcare’s Triple Aim – improving healthcare for individuals, improving health for populations, and reducing the per-capita costs of healthcare.

“Patient choice is the most important aspect of this collaboration,” said Johnese Spisso, UW Medicine chief health system officer. “We believe that this collaboration will enhance and expand patient choice and provide seamless access to complex care and services provided by UW Medicine whenever needed.”

As always, both UW Medicine and PeaceHealth will continue to honor the patient-physician relationship.

“Our goal as a Northwest-based, not-for-profit health system, as it’s been for more than 150 years in all our communities, is to preserve and provide the most services and the best care, closest to home,” said Peter Adler, senior vice president, chief strategy officer for PeaceHealth. “We are honored to build upon our longstanding relationship with UW Medicine in achieving these goals on behalf of our patients and communities served.”

About UW Medicine
UW Medicine’s mission is to improve the health of the public by advancing medical knowledge, providing outstanding primary and specialty care to the people of the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) region, and preparing tomorrow’s physicians, scientists and other health professionals. UW Medicine includes Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center, UW Neighborhood Clinics, UW Physicians, UW School of Medicine and Airlift Northwest.

About PeaceHealth
PeaceHealth is a not-for-profit health care system based in Vancouver, Wash., with services located in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. PeaceHealth includes a large multi-specialty medical group in all three states, laboratories, a Medicaid health plan (Columbia United Providers), and nine medical centers. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth has provided exceptional medicine and compassionate care to Northwest communities for more than a century.