Valley View seeks partnership with health care firm
ADA, Oct 21, 2012 (Menafn - Ada Evening News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Valley View Regional Hospital is seeking proposals from three not-for-profit companies to partner with the hospital as it begins navigating volatile and swiftly changing national health care trends.
Valley View's board chairwoman Dean Peterson and its chief executive officer, Kent Rogers, said Friday that a lengthy study of how to best adhere to provisions in the Affordable Care Act, scheduled cutbacks in Medicare reimbursements and a host of other challenges precipitated the move.
The hospital is seeking lease or affiliation proposals from three of Oklahoma's largest health care systems, and all three have expressed an interest in making formal presentations to the hospital's board of directors.
The three include Mercy Health System of Oklahoma, which is currently involved in professional management of Valley View. Under its leadership and with its own management executive -- Rogers -- at the helm, Valley View is making money and providing greater health services to patients.
Valley View's bottom line is healthier than it has been in many years. However, with Medicare cuts on the horizon, physician retention a major issue and the need to remodel existing facilities and purchase state-ofthe-art equipment, Valley View is seeking a strategic partner to move forward.
Proposals are also expected from Integris Health and SSM Oklahoma, more commonly linked with St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City.
The partnership invitations -- called requests for proposals -- were sent out in mid-September, and Peterson said the board of directors expects to have them in hand by Nov. 5.
That is when the work will really start, Rogers said, as the board will roll up its sleeves and begin the arduous task of deciding which entity will provide the kind of partnership best suited to meeting patients' needs while working within the new rules of health care in America. While many of the edicts of the Affordable Care Act have been implemented, the law does not take full effect until 2014.
Valley View recently completed a strategic analysis of the hospital with the assistance of a health care consulting group. The analysis concluded that significant changes in the American health care environment will affect Valley View on a number of critical fronts.
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