U-M Health System and Trinity Health-Michigan Sign Master Affiliation Agreement

Agreement forms a basis for future efforts to coordinate hospital care, children's care, cancer care, health research, doctor training & hiring, and more

ANN ARBOR and NOVI, Mich., March 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) and Trinity Health-Michigan have signed a new master affiliation agreement that paves the way for close cooperation between the two health systems that will benefit patients around the state.

The agreement signals an intention to work together on specific opportunities that may be developed by teams of physicians and leaders from both systems.

The goal: to use the complementary strengths and geographic location of UMHS and Trinity-Michigan services to help patients get the care they need in the most appropriate place. They will also seek to improve the safety net for the uninsured. That effort will begin with southeastern Michigan, where both health systems are based, and grow to the rest of the state.

Initially, they will explore areas that include inpatient hospital capacity, high-complexity care for the most seriously ill patients, children's care, cancer care, physician training and hiring, clinical research and support services such as information technology.

The affiliation also positions UMHS and Trinity-Michigan to take advantage of new federal and state programs, such as accountable care organizations or ACOs, that incentivize health systems to provide better and more coordinated care for entire populations of patients while also containing the growth of costs.

"We are thrilled to embark on this level of affiliation, which makes us Trinity's preferred academic partner in Michigan and sets the stage for great things to come," says Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., the executive vice president for medical affairs at U-M and CEO of UMHS. "This makes possible so many opportunities that could benefit patients statewide by providing the care they need at the best place for them, ensuring our future supply of physicians and creating new knowledge from research."

"From Saint Joseph Mercy Health System on the east side to Mercy Health on the west side, our organizations throughout Michigan have enjoyed a long-standing and positive relationship with the U-M Health System," says Garry C. Faja, President and CEO of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and Regional Market Executive, Trinity Health-East Michigan.  "We are excited about the opportunity to work more closely together to better meet the needs of patients and the communities we serve. "

UMHS, which has three hospitals in Ann Arbor and a network of primary care and specialty outpatient centers in three counties, provides some of the most advanced care in the nation – care that addresses some of the most severe illnesses and conditions.

Trinity Health's Michigan-wide presence extends from Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in the metro Detroit area with hospitals in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Howell, Livonia, Pontiac, Port Huron and Saline; up to Grayling and Cadillac in northern Michigan, and to the west with Mercy Health in Grand Rapids and Muskegon. 

With a state-wide base of hospitals and associated services under one affiliation agreement, the two health systems now have a wide range of options for designing new models of care to better serve patients.

Both health systems will now contribute members to a leadership group that will approve all proposed cooperative agreements, and to teams that will work on specific proposals.

About Trinity Health-Michigan

Trinity Health is Michigan's leading health care provider and one of the state's largest employers, serving 31 counties and providing the full continuum of care for Michigan's residents through 14 hospitals, numerous ambulatory sites, eight nursing homes, 17 senior housing facilities, nine home health care agencies and six hospice agencies. Nationally, Trinity Health is one of the nation's largest Catholic health care systems with 47 acute-care hospitals, hundreds of outpatient facilities, 26 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs based in 10 states. 

About the University of Michigan Health System

For more than 160 years, the U-M Health System has been a national leader in advanced patient care, innovative research to improve human health and comprehensive education of physicians and medical scientists. UMHS includes the U-M Hospitals & Health Centers, with its three hospitals and dozens of outpatient health centers and clinics throughout Michigan; the U-M Medical School with its Faculty Group Practice and research laboratories; shared administrative services; and the Michigan Health Corporation. The three U-M hospitals -- University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital – have been recognized numerous times for excellence in patient care, including 17 years on the U.S. News & World Report honor roll of "America's Best Hospitals". The U-M Medical School is one of the nation's biomedical research powerhouses, with total research funding of more than $490 million. Together, the 22,000 members of the UMHS community are creating the future of health care through discovery.

SOURCE University of Michigan Health System; Trinity Health-Michigan