There has been a lot of questions ask about the affiliation agreement between St Anthony Hospitals and Fairview Regional Medical Center. To answer some of those questions here is the opening statement that FRMC CEO Roger Knak read during the signing ceremony.
“Healthcare is rapidly changing and the ability for a small community hospital to remain totally independent in the coming environment is very difficult at best. The Board and Administrative staff have chosen to be proactive in deciding the direction to take instead of waiting until out of desperation we seek to integrate. In choosing who to partner with we first looked at what we felt was important to our community as there are three integration models around us, one is to be purchased by another system in which all local autonomy and control are surrendered, one is to enter into a management agreement where for a fee another entity sets the direction again losing local control, or the final is to truly partner through an affiliation where local control and autonomy is maintained but though joint planning and truly working together all involved prosper. We chose the latter option. We also looked for a partner that shared the same values as our community and had a track record for success, growth and excellence in patient care. In our mind that left St. Anthony Hospital and SSM Healthcare as the best partner. According to multiple studies there will be between 20% and 33% of the hospitals in the US that will not be in business within 5 years. FRMC has approximately 60 full time employees and an annual payroll of just over 3.1 million dollars. According to an economic impact study conducted by OSU, FRMC has a direct financial impact on the community of over 5 million dollars and a combination of direct and indirect impact of 11 million. As you can see it is more that the health and wellness of the patients that will be impacted by this partnership but it will be the health and prosperity of this community as well. We are pleased that St. Anthony has offered to strengthen a relationship that has been in existence for the past 5 years though this affiliation agreement. Through this agreement more services will be available locally and resources will be available to improve our capabilities and the quality of care being provided. I am proud of this facility and the great people who make it what it is. I am glad we did not have to surrender who we are and what makes us great in order to find a partner to help us navigate the uncertain and ever changing healthcare world around us. ”
We hope this answers some of the questions that our community partners and customers have. Overall we want to provide the best healthcare to our community that is available and to use our resources to the best of our ability. Thank you for your support during the transition that the healthcare industry is going through.
