Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System is expanding its reach. On June 11, the health system revealed it signed a letter of intent to enter a minority interest affiliation with Ministry Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., a partnership HSHS CEO Mary Starmann-Harrison says will allow the systems to better coordinate high-quality care.
"We believe that formally partnering with Ministry Door County Medical Center will enable both organizations to work together to improve the health of communities across northeast Wisconsin," Ms. Starmann-Harrison said in a statement.
MDCMC plans to transition from its affiliation with the Ascension Wisconsin Ministry of Health Care to a new organizational structure in which it will operate as a locally led hospital in partnership 
with HSHS, with the intent to remain Catholic.
HSHS is comprised of 14 hospitals and more than 200 physician clinic sites in Wisconsin and Illinois. The HSHS Eastern Wisconsin Division has four hospitals, including two in Green Bay, one in Oconto Falls and one in Sheboygan. Through its partnership with Greenbay, Wis.-based Prevea Health, the HSHS Eastern Wisconsin Division also includes more than 200 additional physicians in over 40 health centers, which provide easy access to primary and specialty care physician services.
Here, Ms. Starmann-Harrison took the time to answer Becker's Hospital Review's five questions about the recently announced affiliation and her leadership philosophy.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What prompted the decision to partner with Ministry Door County Medical Center?
Mary Starmann-Harrison: We have a very long history of working together on clinical programs, and our physician partners at Prevea Health have long provided specialty care in Door County. Additionally, I believe geography matters. Our adjacency to Door County enhances the coordination of care for patients and allows for the easy sharing of resources.
Q: What are the main strategic objectives for the partnership?
MSH: The first strategic objective is coordinating care for patients and also ensuring that care is easily accessible. We want our patients to get the right care at the right time in the right place, as close to home as possible.
We have a strong presence in Northeast Wisconsin, and our hospitals in Green Bay have specialty services that could augment the care for patients in Door County. One of them, HSHS St. Vincent Hospital, has centers of excellence for cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics, women's care and a dedicated children's hospital with the region's only pediatric intensive care unit.
The geographic adjacency between MDCMC and the HSHS Eastern Wisconsin Division makes a huge difference. It enhances our ability to work together, coordinate care and make care easily accessible — care that can be provided locally in Door County and the tertiary and quaternary care that is provided in Green Bay.
Q: What are the biggest health issues and concerns in your market?
MSH: One of the biggest issues we are addressing is making sure we are giving our patients access to care close to home. Our Prevea physician partners — including specialty physicians — are 200 strong and work in 40 locations throughout eastern and western Wisconsin. They are working to address the biggest challenge we are facing in all of our markets: ensuring adequate access to high-quality, efficient care.
Q: How would you describe your leadership style, and what are the characteristics of your ideal senior leadership team?
MSH: My leadership style is very collaborative. I am also highly focused on results while keeping a strategic picture in mind.
First and foremost, my ideal leadership team is mission-driven, and my team embodies this. We let the mission — compassion, quality and affordable healthcare — drive us, and that is extremely important to us. The team must also be focused on results and strategic in our thinking.
Q: What's one piece of advice that's stuck with you throughout your career?
MSH: Always put the patient first and always be improving.