Officials with Baptist Health and Deaconess announced Tuesday their intentions to jointly operate the Madisonville hospital and medical group.
The joint venture comes after the Baptist Health and Deaconess Health System board of directors signed a memorandum of understanding to operate the Madisonville hospital and medical group with current employees to continue with the new organization.
A release from Baptist Health Madisonville says under the terms of the memorandum the joint venture is expected to be finalized this summer. They say this will create the region’s largest health systems that will pool resources and expertise to further strengthen medical services offered at the hospital and foster growth with local decision-making and a local focus.
Officials say the medical staff and employees at both organizations were notified Tuesday morning. They add all current Madisonville employees will continue with the new organization, with the same rates of pay, seniority, and with similar benefit plans.
Through the joint venture, hospital officials say Baptist Health and Deaconess will jointly operate the hospital, medical group, and associated outpatient facilities. They add initial capital investments of more than $50 million will include surgical suite enhancements, emergency room renovations, and cancer care facility upgrades.
According to the release, physician recruitment will also be a focus of the new medical group that will employ the physicians, providers, and staff currently part of the Baptist Health Medical Group in the Madisonville area.
Baptist Health CEO Gerard Colman says rural hospitals today are struggling and facing huge challenges to provide healthcare needed to best serve their communities. He said with Baptist Health partnering with Deaconess, the Madisonville community will have an exceptional level of support from Kentucky’s largest healthcare system and from the leading healthcare provider in the Tri-State region, to ensure continued local direction and additional investment in healthcare services.
Deaconess CEO Shawn McCoy says the goal of this arrangement is to keep quality healthcare local, with local decision-making and a local focus. He adds Deaconess has worked with Baptist Health and other local providers in Kentucky for many years, as both a regional transfer center and in ensuring that specialized services are available throughout the region.
Robert Ramey, president of Baptist Health Madisonville, says they anticipate growing and expanding services particularly in primary care, surgery, cardiac, and cancer care — so people can continue to access quality healthcare close to home.
In the coming months, hospital officials say teams from both hospitals will proceed through a due diligence period that allows both health systems to evaluate the potential joint venture and finalize details of the agreement.
In addition, officials say, as faith-based institutions, both organizations will continue to offer financial assistance programs and charity care.
Baptist Health Madisonville was formerly known as Trover Health System and joined Baptist Health in 2012.
