St. Luke's officially becomes part of ProMedica
9/1/2010St. Luke's Hospital in Maumee is now officially a part of ProMedica Health System, officials announced Wednesday afternoon.
"We are thrilled that St. Luke's has joined ProMedica," Randy Oostra, president and CEO of ProMedica, said in a statement. "Both organizations are dedicated to achieving the same over-arching mission: to improve the health of the people we serve."
The announcement follows several months of due diligence after the two organizations signed an agreement in May when St. Luke's — which will retain its name, management, and local community board — signed a definitive agreement with ProMedica after four months of official discussions.
The definitive agreement came roughly 18 months after St. Luke's officials started searching for a way to remain the Toledo area's last independent hospital or forge a suitable alliance.
Executives from both St. Luke's and ProMedica say joining together will help with collaborative endeavors, something that is increasingly important in the competitive medical field.
"In the near term and for generations to come, it is imperative that organizations such as ours seek to achieve more effective and efficient clinical integration as we expand access to exceptional care," Mr. Oostra said.
The first change area residents will notice is that St. Luke's will now be included in the Paramount Health Care network which means Paramount members and ProMedica employees will have access to St. Luke's services.
In addition, St. Luke's employees will have access to ProMedica services and facilities through Medical Mutual's Ohio SuperMed Plus network.
Although the partnership was first announced in May, the work is now just starting to identify what programs and procedures can be integrated to make operations more efficient, said Barbara Steele, president of acute care for ProMedica Health System.