Duke University Health System is partnering with LifePoint Hospitals to run community hospitals throughout North Carolina, Duke announced earlier this week. Together, the Durham-based academic health system and Tennessee-based hospital operator will create innovative options for smaller hospitals through their joint venture, DLP Healthcare.
"This joint venture will provide community hospitals in North Carolina and the surrounding area with Duke's outstanding clinical leadership and resources, plus the strong financial and operational experience of LifePoint," said LifePoint CEO William F. Carpenter III in a statement.
The joint venture will offer local hospitals extensive clinical and operational support, quality measurement tools, and resources to effectively grow and expand services. The first hospital in the DLP Healthcare network will be Maria Parham Medical Center, a private, non-profit hospital in Henderson, N.C.
Under the agreement, Maria Parham and DLP Healthcare will share ownership and governance of the hospital. While governance will be split 50/50, Maria Parham will retain 20 percent ownership and DLP will own 80 percent, reports MedCity News.
The deal will eliminate Maria Parham's debt, and the remaining assets of about $30 million will be used to create a charitable foundation funding new programs and services in the community, hospital officials announced in a statement.
In addition, Maria Parham will gain economies of scale, management expertise, assistance with physician recruiting and other capabilities as a member of the DLP Healthcare network. A definitive partnership agreement is expected to be finalized in April.
For more:
- read the MedCity News article
- read the Duke Health press release
- here's Maria Parham's announcement