Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest nonprofit health system in Texas, and Cleveland Clinic have announced an alliance that involves three Baylor Scott & White hospitals joining Cleveland Clinic's Cardiovascular Specialty Network.
Under the agreement, Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano (Texas) will join the Cleveland Clinic's Cardiovascular Specialty Network, providing care through the network to cardiac patients in Texas and Oklahoma.
Through the alliance, the three Baylor Scott & White hospitals and Cleveland Clinic will share best practices, coordinate care and work toward improving care quality and patient safety.
"We have tremendous respect for Cleveland Clinic and are excited and honored to be chosen," says Joel Allison, CEO of Baylor Scott & White. "This is more than an alliance, it's really about where we think the future of healthcare is going."
Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD, shared Mr. Allison's excitement about the two organizations working together. "I think this is a type of alliance that is going to become the pattern for healthcare across the country," says Dr. Cosgrove.
Like the Cleveland Clinic, Baylor Scott & White stresses quality, innovation, teamwork and service, which is one of the many reasons Dr. Cosgrove believes the two organizations will work well together. Additionally, the mantra at Cleveland Clinic is "patients first," says Dr. Cosgrove, and at the end of the day this new alliance is about making patient care better.
Sharing the same forward-looking vision as the organizations' leaders, Michael Mack, MD, medical director of cardiovascular services at Baylor Scott & White says, "This affiliation between Baylor Scott & White and Cleveland Clinic is a big, big deal. Make no mistake about it, this is a huge deal in the way that healthcare is going to be delivered in the U.S."
The two organizations have worked together for many years and already have a collaborative research relationship, which allowed Cleveland Clinic to develop a better understanding of Baylor Scott & White and its programs. However, Baylor Scott & White did go through a formal evaluation process, which began about nine months ago, before being selected to join the cardiovascular network.
With the alliance in place, people in Texas and Oklahoma can feel they are getting the same level of care as the Cleveland Clinic if they go to one of the Baylor White & Scott hospitals in the cardiovascular network. People will know "we are working with someone that is committed to a high quality of care," says Mr. Allison.
Baylor Scott & White is the third member of the specialty network, joining Manhasset, N.Y.-based North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and Washington, D.C.-based MedStar Heart Institute, and Cleveland Clinic has plans to add more systems to the network "in an attempt to cover the U.S.," says Dr. Cosgrove.