In December 2023, the system advanced its affiliation agreement with Wright State to help improve regional academic medicine, workforce training, economic development and community health. The initial affiliation agreement between the two parties kicked off in 2021.
Premier’s Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton also received academic medical center recognition under the partnership to integrate regional research, clinical care and education.
“We’ve been doing a lot of building blocks work with Wright State,” Premier Health CFO Craig Ganger said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle podcast. “As [the partnership] continues to advance and grow, it’s going to bring new programs, new residencies, workforce development programs and ultimately provide clinical services that aren’t available in our market or region.”
Mr. Ganger said Premier looks at the partnership as long-term, bringing multiple decades of growth to benefit the organizations, the community and patients.
“Miami Valley Hospital has been a teaching [facility] since, really, the late ’70s,” he said. “Advancing it more broadly in our relationship specifically with Wright State University for the region is new and exciting.”
Premier Health comprises Middletown, Ohio-based Atrium Medical Center, Miami Valley Hospital, Miami Valley Hospital North, Miami Valley Hospital South, Troy, Ohio-based Upper Valley Medical Center, Dayton-based Fidelity Health Care and Premier Community Health, Premier Physician Network and Samaritan Behavioral Health, according to its website.
To help Premier Health and systems like it continue on the path to growth, Mr. Ganger said it’s important for CFOs to focus on the evolution of their roles, honing in on strong communication to relay financial information to non-financial stakeholders.
“[Coming] out from behind the desk and making finance information come alive and really [to] create a strong collaboration in support of operations, strategy and service lines in these relationships is something that’s needed for the CFO role,” he said.