UW Health, the health system of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it has joined forces with UnityPoint Health-Meriter to establish a business relationship that will benefit UW Health and the community hospital in the long-run.
According to UW Health, the partnership will help strengthen Meriter’s mission toward the community and allow UW Health to expand its leadership in high-level care.
“We pursued this expanded relationship to strengthen our ability to take care of our patients more efficiently and effectively,” Dr. Alan Kaplan, CEO of UW Health, said in a release. “UW Health, for example, offers a Level 1 trauma center for both adults and children; a nationally renowned organ transplant program and burn center; and the comprehensive resources of the Carbone Cancer Center for cancer patients, among other leading resources.”
Each facility will be independent, but under UW Health's guidance, the organizations will partner up on "finances, clinical operations and strategy," according to the release.
“Meriter’s leadership in patient experience and its long-standing focus as a community health care provider will ensure that our new organization remains rooted in the goals and aspirations of the people we serve,” Kaplan said in the release. “Our system will be bigger, but more important, it will be better.”
While Meriter will continue to be part of UnityPoint Health, it will be incorporating UW Health into its logo, the release said.
“Patients can rest assured knowing that they will have access to care when and where they need it through one coordinated system,” George Kamperschroer, chair of the UnityPoint Health – Meriter board, said in the release. “By working together at a deeper level, our organizations can wholly focus on our missions of caring for our patients and community.”
