Bayhealth of Dover with hospitals in Dover and Milford, and Peninsula Regional Health System of Salisbury, Maryland, which operates Peninsula Regional Medical Center, have formed HealthPartners Delmarva.
The collaboration allows each hospital to share the best practices of both organizations, but is not a merger or acquisition. The partnership is focused on collaborating to improve patient care. The organization will seek out best practices and ways to better manage health care costs.
HealthPartners Delmarva was developed and approved by the boards of each health system “to better implement the healthcare Triple Aim of improving the experience for the patient, improving the health of our communities and creating a way for people to obtain those services in the most affordable setting,” a release stated.
“Creating the best experience for our patients will mean identifying and adopting best practices that focus on convenience, safety, time and cost efficiency,” said Terry Murphy, Bayhealth’s CEO. “By bringing together the experience, innovation and patient-centered values of our two health systems, we can be even more prepared for the new realities of he alt hcare.”
Dr. Peggy Naleppa, CEO of PRMC said, “Similar-minded health systems like Bayhealth and Peninsula Regional Health System, which have similar patient-first values, are establishing what the future of health care will look like on the Delmarva Peninsula. Together we have as our goal to provide patients greater access to best-in-class healthcare and to leverage for the benefit of our patients the combined intellectual assets of each health system.”
The alliance is focused on designing tools and processes for clinical improvement using the shared knowledge of both organizations. It will also bring together community providers to enhance integrated care that focuses on the health of the community as a whole, the release stated.
Bayhealth has hospitals in Dover and in Milford. Comprised of Kent General and Milford Memorial Hospitals, Bayhealth has more than 3,200 employees and a medical staff of 466 physicians.
Slightly smaller Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Salisbury also has nearly 3,000 employees and a medical staff of more than 300.
Peninsula has seen a wave of consolidation in Maryland with the massive Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland health systems acquiring hospital systems. Maryland also operates a more regulated health care system in terms of the number of hospital beds. Bayhealth dominates the market in central Delaware and a portion of Sussex County, but is facing pressures in dealing with health care costs.
Both systems are in sound financial condition and come with a reputation for sound management practices.
