The executive team at Marshall, Mich.-based Oaklawn Hospital knew they had a problem when the only oncologist in town retired, leaving the community with very limited access to treatment.
"We are a small rural hospital that in the past had offered oncology services: chemo, infusion, consultation," Theresa Dawson, DNP, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer of Oaklawn Hospital, told Becker's. "After the oncologist retired, we had difficulty finding an oncologist for our limited services. We felt very strongly we should offer these services locally, as the patients are in a state of health that makes it taxing to travel to other oncology units."
The executive team spent the last year searching for partners to support their oncology services with little success. Then, at the end of July, they tried something drastically different that wouldn't have been possible in the past.
"We decided to reach out to our competitor approximately 20 minutes away," said Dr. Dawson. "They operated a well-established oncology center, known for quality care. They also provide radiation oncology services with state-of-the-art linear accelerators. Even though we had been competing for some oncology patients in the past, we were able to come together with an agreement whereby they would provide us with an oncologist a couple days a week on our campus."
The competitor, and now partner, will be able to use Oaklawn's pharmacy for chemotherapy orders and oversee oncology nurses for infusion when the deal goes into effect next year. In return, Oaklaw plans to send patients who need radiation treatment to the other hospital instead of keeping patients within its own centers. This creative partnership benefits both organizations, and more importantly, the patients, to keep care local and accessible.
"We are very excited to embark on this partnership beginning at the first of the year," said Dr. Dawson.
Oaklawn isn't the only hospital willing to approach competitors with a complex challenge. Increasingly, hospitals – especially rural hospitals – and health systems are setting aside past differences in an effort to provide more coordinated and comprehensive patient care.
Wendy Horton, PharmD, CEO of UVA Health University Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va., also recently collaborated with other systems in her region for behavioral health services.
"We're opening a new pediatric behavioral health center in December, in collaboration with a health system we've traditionally competed with, showing that when it comes to patient care, collaboration outweighs competition," she told Becker's.
UVA Health University Medical Center also forged new partnerships with two other health systems in the state to provide pediatric congenital care to children who previously would have needed to leave the state for care.
"Ultimately, coming together for the patients and the community is always the right answer, and it is exciting to see these partnerships grow and expand," Dr. Horton said.