Better Health Care Coming – Memorial To Team With Virginia Mason

The definitive language still needs to be worked out but it looks like affiliation between Memorial Hospital and Virginia Mason of Seattle is a go.

A News Release from Shannon Dininny with Memorial Communications lays out the details: YAKIMA – The Memorial Family of Services Board of Trustees voted unanimously July 28, 2015, to move forward with an affiliation with Virginia Mason Health System, subject to completion of a definitive agreement that must then be approved by both the Memorial and Virginia Mason boards.

The two organizations anticipate successful completion of that agreement, which will outline how they will work together, in about 60 days. The final agreement may also require state and/or federal review and approval.

Memorial and Virginia Mason share similar values and cultures, as well as a commitment to innovation, and view a potential relationship as an opportunity to create a broader network of care that better serves both organizations’ communities.

Partnerships in health care are occurring across the country as a way to improve service, ower costs and respond to health care reform. Ultimately, these collaborations benefit the patients and communities they serve.

The Memorial Board of Trustees views a strategic partnership as an opportunity for Memorial – and Yakima – to maintain access to high-quality healthcare, improve access to specialty care, advance physician recruitment and expand our financial, clinical and information systems resources. Such a partnership also ensures that state-of-the-art medicine continues in this community.

About Memorial Family of Services

Memorial Family of Services is the largest employer in Central Washington’s Yakima County, with some 2,500 employees who share the organization’s core purpose:  to inspire people to thrive. Memorial Family of Services includes Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital – a 226-bed, acute-care, nonprofit community hospital – as well as primary care practices and specialty care services, including high-quality cardiac care, a continuum of cancer care, nationally-recognized home health and hospice care, and advanced services for children with special health care needs. Visit Memorial online at yakimamemorial.org or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/yakimavalleymemorialhospital), Twitter (www.twitter.com/Yakima_Memorial) or Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/yvmh).