The mayor of Devils Lake, N.D., is calling for increased cooperation between healthcare facilities as well as an integrated health system in the city, Grand Forks Herald reported Jan. 25.
Mayor Dick Johnson penned a letter and shared it with local news outlets in which he describes his concern about deteriorating hospital conditions for the community of about 14,000 people. He also criticized CommonSpirit Health and Altru Health System, which operate a hospital and clinic in Devils Lake, respectively, citing a lack of cooperation between the entities. He told the Herald the relationship between CommonSpirit and Altru is "contentious at best."
He called for unified healthcare in the city, writing that Altru Health, Essentia Health and Sanford Health have all expressed interest in creating a unified model in which one company would run both the hospital and clinic. Mr. Johnson said he hopes CommonSpirit will sell CHI St. Alexius Devils Lake Hospital to Essentia, Altru Health or Sanford Health.
On the other hand, Mariann Doeling, interim president at CHI St. Alexius Devils Lake Hospital, said the hospital is planning discussions on what a partnership with Altru may look like.
"It’s very unfortunate that Mayor Johnson has never connected with myself to ask about that contentious relationship because to my knowledge, there is not a contentious relationship," she said.