Appleton, Wis.-based ThedaCare and Berlin, Wis.-based Community Health Network have signed a letter of intent to affiliate.
The five-hospital ThedaCare and one-hospital CHN are now expected to work toward a definitive affiliation agreement. Financial terms and a timeline to complete the deal were not disclosed.
However, the systems explained some of the core elements of the affiliation. On top of some unnamed capital investments, ThedaCare will install its Epic electronic health record system across all CHN locations, giving the two organizations full interoperability. In addition, ThedaCare and CHN will work together to reduce duplicative care, streamline care access to patients and collaborate on quality improvement projects. CHN will adopt ThedaCare's "no layoff" philosophy as well.
"We've always believed that 95 percent of the care most people need can and should be delivered within the local community," said Dean Gruner, MD, president and CEO of ThedaCare, in a news release. "That is why we think it is important that those patients who already receive great care from Community Health Network be able to stay in their communities for local care."
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