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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > May 14, 2008
SynergyHealth board approves Froedtert affiliation
Published May 14, 2008 - BizTimes Daily
The SynergyHealth board of directors in West Bend approved a definitive agreement this morning to affiliate with Froedtert & Community Health. The affiliation process is expected to be completed by July 1.
Under the agreement, St. Joseph's Hospital, the West Bend Clinic and the SynergyHealth Foundation will become part of Froedtert & Community Health. Froedtert & Community Health also includes Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa and Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls.
"We believe that the affiliation is a positive step forward for Froedtert & Community Health and St. Joseph's Hospital and the West Bend Clinic. Most importantly, we believe that the affiliation will allow us to enhance the quality, continuity and accessibility of health care to the communities we serve," the Synergy Health Board said in a statement this morning. "Benefits of the affiliation include enhanced care coordination across a broader network of physicians and better access for Washington County residents to cancer, cardiovascular, primary and other specialty care services."
Under terms of the agreement, St. Joseph's Hospital, the West Bend Clinic and the SynergyHealth Foundation will become part of Froedtert & Community Health.
"This affiliation is the culmination of many months of study and work on the part of board members and senior leadership at the hospital and clinic," said Greg Banaszynski, chief executive officer of SynergyHealth.
The affiliation agreement includes plans to broaden care offerings in cancer, cardiovascular services, primary care and other services in Washington County.
"We look forward to building on our existing partnership with St. Joseph's Hospital and the West Bend Clinic," said Bill Petasnick, president and CEO of Froedtert & Community Health. "We already serve many of the same patients and communities. This affiliation will allow us to expand local health care services and develop closer working relationships between providers across our growing system."
Under the agreement, both St. Joseph's Hospital and the West Bend Clinic will retain their names and a significant degree of local governance and decision-making for the provision of health care in Washington County. Leadership and staffing at St. Joseph's Hospital, the West Bend Clinic and the SynergyHealth Foundation will not change as a result of the affiliation, the merged systems said.
The boards of directors for St. Joseph's Hospital, the West Bend Clinic and SynergyHealth Foundation will be retained. Two community members of the hospital board will serve on the Froedtert & Community Health board in addition to a third member from the community who will serve on both the hospital board and Froedtert & Community Health board.
"We're looking forward to a very positive and productive relationship with Froedtert & Community Health," said Michael Laird, president of St. Joseph's Hospital. "We believe this will make St. Joseph's Hospital a destination hospital within one of the region's top health care systems."
"This relationship formalizes our existing linkages and sense of partnership with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin,” said Dr. Gregory Blommel, president and medical director of the West Bend Clinic. "As part of a larger system we can offer access to a broader continuum of care and recruit new specialists to the area. A collaborative clinical relationship with Froedtert & Community Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin will benefit our patients with chronic illness, with the ultimate goal of improving the health status of the community. Through this combination, we can offer the right care at the right time and in the right setting."
"The Medical College of Wisconsin favorably supports the integration of Froedtert & Community Health with SynergyHealth," said Peter Plantes, M.D., CEO of Medical College Physicians. "We look forward to working both with St. Joseph's Hospital and with the physicians at the West Bend Clinic, many of whom trained at the Medical College. Working with both St. Joseph's Hospital and West Bend Clinic, the Medical College of Wisconsin can expand targeted sub-specialty services in Washington County. We look forward to delivering the full value of our academic medical center enterprise to patients and communities in Washington County."
As part of the agreement, Froedtert & Community Health has committed to significant investments in the development of hospital and physician services in Washington County. This investment includes plans to create a more robust hospital campus, including the addition of a medical office building that will facilitate the future relocation and expansion of cancer services. The building will also provide space to specialists from the Medical College of Wisconsin and other physician groups.
Froedtert & Community Health will continue to support local community missions by investing in scholarships, community outreach and the accelerated development of local health care services by the West Bend Clinic and St. Joseph's Hospital.
