GRINNELL – Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s board of directors has approved an affiliation agreement that will make GRMC the 30th Iowa affiliate hospital of Mercy Health Network based in Des Moines.

“We look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with Mercy Health Network. It’s taken a lot of planning and research to get here, and I appreciate the work of our task force on this effort. We’ve really studied the benefits that might come from various relationships and the GRMC board believes the type of affiliation offered by Mercy will benefit GRMC patients for years to come without taking away local control of our hospital,” says Susan Witt, chair of the GRMC board of directors and a member of the task force that began looking at the merits of a system affiliation about a year ago.

The new affiliation with Mercy has no direct effect on the Deer Creek Medical Center in Toledo. It will continue to operate as a partnership between GRMC and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics according to a Grinnell spokesperson.

Established in 1998, the Mercy Health Network was founded on the belief that the existence of rural healthcare facilities throughout the state is the key to providing readily accessible high quality healthcare to all Iowans. Affiliate hospitals benefit from the added value of collaborative initiatives, programs, and support services. The affiliation between GRMC and Mercy became effective July 1.

“On behalf of the entire Mercy family, I am pleased to welcome GRMC to Mercy Health Network,” says David H. Vellinga, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines and Mercy Health Network. “I am confident that this new affiliation will be positive for both GRMC and Mercy. Together, we will learn from one another and share best practices to provide the highest quality health care available and, equally important, to continue to improve the health and well-being of the people who live in the communities we serve.”

GRMC Physician Support

Members of GRMC’s medical staff indicated their support of an affiliation agreement with Mercy Health Network when they voted in favor of the relationship at their monthly medical staff meeting on June 16.

Several different reasons exist for why physicians support a connection with Mercy, says Clayton Francis, MD, president of the GRMC medical staff. GRMC physicians found Mercy’s practice of leaving specialty referral decisions to the patient and the patient’s primary care provider important. Another benefit, he adds, will be access to best practice and quality ideas from dozens of Iowa hospitals that are also part of the Mercy network.

“On one hand they will provide us with support. On the other hand, GRMC will remain independent, allowing us to make our own decisions. This is important because we want to do what is good for the local community and not have that control elsewhere. Our physicians and allied health professionals are all part of this community. We live here. We work here, and we use the hospital, too. We know what the community needs,” Francis says.

Benefits of Affiliation

“Patients coming to GRMC will not see any dramatic changes resulting from the affiliation, such as a new name or different people interacting with them,” says Todd C. Linden, GRMC’s president and CEO. “GRMC will remain an independent community hospital, yet through the affiliation we will enjoy access to opportunities like group purchasing, computer services, and physician recruitment expertise.”

Under the proposed agreement, GRMC will contract services and share best practices with all of Mercy network hospitals. GRMC also will continue its business relationships with other healthcare organizations and visiting specialists. The agreement allows GRMC physicians to make referrals for specialty care for their patients not only to Mercy, but also to any hospital or provider that can help a patient the most.

“One of the many reasons the proposal from Mercy was attractive to us was that it does not call for a change of ownership or a merger. The GRMC board of directors will continue to govern the medical center while also receiving guidance and advice from Mercy and its other affiliates when we ask for it. It doesn’t get much better than this: we get the benefits of being part of a system and yet remain independent,” Witt says.

Another attractive feature of the agreement is that Mercy offers a 90-day out clause at any time. “This shows Mercy’s commitment to continuously provide value for the fee we pay to be part of their network,” Linden says.

Affiliation Goals

Mercy Health Network was one of four organizations the board considered for affiliation. The board had a number of goals as it reviewed affiliation options. Those included finding a partner to help with physician recruitment and medical staff development; quality, safety and service initiatives; access to specialized expertise such as electronic health records and legal services; and being part of a larger purchasing pool for supplies, medications, and equipment.

“This year, GRMC is in a better financial position than it has been in the past two years. We believe the affiliation holds promises for helping GRMC continue to regain our economic stability. Essentially, the opportunities that exist for us through Mercy can help make GRMC fiscally stronger as we continue to struggle with insufficient Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and the need to recruit more specialists,” Linden says. “In addition, the affiliation will allow us to establish networking relationships that will ensure the medical center will offer the best practices and highest quality to our patients.”

Mercy Health Network is an integrated system of member hospitals and other health and patient care facilities united through various relationships. The network already includes 11 owned hospitals, 29 affiliated hospitals, 98 physician clinic sites, and more than $1 billion in annual revenues. While Mercy Health Network provides integrated financial and management services to operate network facilities, it does not own or control the majority of its affiliates.