This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Providence Health and Swedish Announce Alliance

Providence Health & Services, one of Renton's largest employers, wants to join Seattle-based Swedish Health Services in an alliance to improve health-care quality, access and affordability.

Renton-based Providence Health & Services and Seattle-based Swedish Health Services say they will enter a not-for-profit affiliation designed to improve health-care quality, access and affordability for the residents of Western Washington.

Working together, Providence and Swedish plan to reduce costs “by better organizing how care is delivered,” they stated in a press release. More efficient delivery of care and approaches to chronic disease management will “make health care more affordable for government payers, commercial insurers, employers and patients,” they state.

Specifically how those efficiencies will be gained has not been spelled out. Providence will have a media briefing this afternoon, when more specifics may be available. Providence employs approximately 1,200 people in Renton.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“We’re certainly aware of the trend toward consolidation in the medical field,” said Alex Pietsch, administrator. “We’ve just seen that with and Valley Medical Center. Any steps that make Providence stronger are probably good for Renton.”

Regulatory approval of the agreement is expected to take some time. Until then, the two groups will remain separate. Under the affiliation plan, the two organizations will maintain their individual identities. Providence will remain a Catholic organization, while Swedish will remain non-religious.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Their operating area will include all of Swedish’s operations in King, Snohomish and Kittitas counties and all of Providence’s operations in King, Snohomish, Thurston and Lewis counties.

“We had to think beyond merger or acquisition to accomplish this, and this affiliation is really the best of both worlds. The shared knowledge and capabilities of Providence and Swedish will benefit our communities for many, many years to come,” said Dr. John Koster, Providence Health & Services president and CEO, in the press release.

One benefit of the affiliation will be a common electronic health record that will connect Providence and Swedish hospitals, outpatient centers and doctors’ offices throughout Western Washington. In addition, by sharing resources, both organizations can make it easier to access health care across the entire range of services – from primary care, specialized care, research and hospice and long-term care.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?