Roughly five months after it cut ties with Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica Health System, Maumee, Ohio-based St. Luke's Hospital President Dan Wakeman said the hospital's transition into an independent entity has been "hectic but fruitful," according to The Blade.
The August 2010 merger between PoMedica and St. Luke's Hospital made ProMedica the dominant hospital operator in the area, controlling more than 50 percent of the market for primary and secondary services. The Federal Trade Commission contested the transaction five months later. After a five-year court battle, ProMedica filed its application with the FTC to divest the hospital in May 2016. The two organizations officially became separate entities July 1, 2016, according to the article.
Mr. Wakeman said one of the biggest challenges the hospital has faced since becoming independent is footing the costs to pay for services ProMedica would have been responsible for under the merger agreement. Mr. Wakeman said the hospital aims to operate its own business platforms by March 31 and its own clinical platforms by November, according to the article.
But Mr. Wakeman said the split from ProMedica also has its benefits. Under the previous agreement, ProMedica dropped the hospital's family medicine residency program. Following its disaffiliation with the health system, the hospital plans to create a new medical education training program, according to the article.