Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health and Newport News, Va.-based Riverside Health System are forming an alliance to increase access to innovative care for complex medical conditions and clinical trials.
The alliance provides UVA a 5 percent ownership stake in Riverside and, in turn, UVA is committing financial and clinical resources to assist in growing local services in eastern Virginia, according to a July 11 UVA news release. The systems will retain their existing governance and administrative structures.
Under the agreement the health systems will collaborate in multiple areas, including clinical program development, research and medical education, according to the release.
The systems said the affiliation enhances care coordination in several areas, including adult and pediatric transplantation, while advancing efforts to educate and train the next generation of clinicians through a common commitment to medical education, research and innovation.
"Together, Riverside Health System and UVA Health will continue to bring an exceptionally high level of healthcare to eastern Virginia," Riverside president and CEO Mike Dacey, MD, said in the release. "We are looking forward to our expanded partnership in clinical services starting with cardiothoracic surgery. Strategic affiliations with academic medical centers have been a part of our strategic plan for the past four years. This affiliation advances the expertise of our respective clinical teams and provides patients with expanded access to the latest technologies and procedures to improve health outcomes and quality of life."
The affiliation builds upon a relationship that dates back to 2005 with the launch of a Newport News-based stereotactic radiosurgery center, according to the release.