Three Rivers Health (TRH) has signed a letter of intent to join northern Indiana-based Beacon Health System. Pending final approvals, the agreement would take effect in the spring of 2021. In a press release Tuesday, TRH said the new partnership “will provide expanded access to care across our region.” TRH operates a 60-bed hospital in Three Rivers serving St. Joseph County, Kalamazoo County, and surrounding areas.
According to the press release, TRH “offers a full complement of outpatient services along with specializations in orthopedics, emergency medicine, women’s health, and rehabilitation services.” TRH President and CEO Dave Shannon said, “our thinking was to grout through careful alignment with partners of high integrity, who share our commitment to quality, exceptional experience, and value.”
Shannon called the partnership “a natural fit for us, and absolutely the best option for patients.” He said through the partnership, TRH-served communities “will have even greater access to convenient, high-quality health care close to home.” According to the press release, the partnership will provide TRH patients with access to 1,100 physicians and providers currently employed by Beacon. “Beacon has a full array of clinical expertise in trauma, orthopedics, heart, vascular, and cancer care,” the press release said, and is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.
Beacon CEO Kreg Gruber said the negotiation process between the two entities revealed “shared common values, commitment to the communities we serve, and an appreciation for our important roles in delivering excellence in care.” Gruber said the two organizations, working in partnership, “have the potential to positively impact the health of even more individuals. We look forward to working with our new colleagues in Three Rivers to provide exceptional care in neighborhoods throughout our region.”
TRH is a non-profit organization. It employs over 550 people at its medical center in Three Rivers as well as its 16 clinics spread throughout its service area. These include a variety of healthcare specialty providers, and the organization has grown in its services and capabilities over the last few years.
According to Tuesday’s release, Beacon is the “largest, locally owned and operated non-profit health care system in the region. It employs over 8,000 people at a collection of hospitals, clinics, medical centers, and other facilities spread between Elkhart, South Bend, Granger, and other northern Indiana communities. It is an educational organization and helps with training of medical residents in family medicine and hospital pharmacy fields.
Tuesday’s press release did not provide details about how management will be shared between the organizations, nor what kind of restructuring or personnel changes could be in the works at the Three Rivers facility. Beyond generalities, the release did not specify what new or expanded services might be in the works for the Three Rivers facility or its patients.
However, in follow-up comments to Watershed Voice, TRH Marketing and Business Development Manager Lindsay Harrison said at this point the two parties have signed a Letter of Understanding only, rather than a formal, detailed, or binding contract. Still to be determined would be many of the details about how the partnership would play out.
There are no plans for any major structural personnel changes at this time, Harrison said. As the parties work toward finalizing the partnership and establishing a contract next spring, Harrison said they will look at where services and departments overlap and discuss how to either merge or dovetail redundant or duplicate operations.
Harrison said TRH will continue to maintain its own Board of Directors, although it is not clear what procedures will be in place for appointing new members or whether they have been determined. The partnership would likely incorporate the two entities’ names and branding together in some way, but the parties have not yet determined how.
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
