Frequently Asked Questions

Healthcare has evolved since we first opened our doors, and today’s healthcare landscape looks very different than it did five years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the fast pace of change and innovation in the healthcare industry, as well as the financial and operational headwinds that as healthcare providers we all face, we must also evolve to continue to meet the needs of our community for the long-term. This proposed combination will allow us to sustain and enhance local healthcare by offering more services and increasing patient access – all right here in the Thumb.

Our aligned missions and long-term vision to keep care local, as well as our shared identity as Critical Access Hospitals, make combining our organizations a natural next step in our work together. Plus, collaborating for better care is something we’ve already done. We have several existing, successful ventures that have increased access for our patients, including our shared membership and participation in the Covenant Regional Thumb Network (CRTN), which focuses on making extraordinary care available to communities throughout the Thumb.

While signing a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) is an important milestone for us, we are just at the beginning of the process to combine our organizations. Our organizations will enter a period of mutual due diligence to fully determine the details of a final agreement. Pending further Board approvals and standard state and federal regulatory review, we hope to finalize an agreement that will combine our organizations early next year.

Our shared vision is to sustain and enhance local healthcare in the Thumb. Together, we plan to:

• Maintain and enhance the immediate and long-term financial viability of our health systems.
• Maintain the hospitals as acute care facilities while continuing to invest and grow core and specialty services so that we can treat more complex cases locally.
• Invest in infrastructure improvements and updates that will allow us to provide more efficient and higher quality care to our patients.
• Create new ways to work together that will grow local access to care, increase quality and provide more opportunities and resources for our teams.
• Invest in charity care to ensure all members of our community can access the care they need.
• Build upon the great work of our teams to continue increasing the clinical quality of our services and programs.
• Devote resources to improve recruitment and retention across our entire workforce, including primary care and specialty care physicians and advanced practice professionals.
• Broaden and deepen community support and engagement across the Thumb.

If our combination is finalized, our facilities will keep their respective names.

There are no immediate changes on the horizon, and we do not expect any job loss as a result of the proposed combination. Meeting the current and future healthcare needs of our communities in the Thumb depends on maintaining, recruiting and advancing a dedicated and high-performing workforce and medical staff. We can’t achieve our shared goals without our dedicated team of healthcare providers and professionals.

We are excited about the ways our patients and communities will benefit from our proposed combination. Together, we will be able to create a connected care network that will increase access to even more services close to home.

Nothing changes today, including the services we provide. Patients should keep their appointments and continue to visit the providers, clinics and facilities they always have. All current insurance will be accepted.

Now that the non-binding agreement has been signed, our organizations will enter a period of mutual due diligence to fully determine the details of a final agreement. Pending further Board approvals and standard state and federal regulatory review, we hope to finalize an agreement that will combine our organizations early next year.

While this is an important milestone for us, this step doesn’t change anything today, and our priority will continue to be providing excellent care to our patients and the communities we serve.

During due diligence, our organizations are gathering and reviewing information to thoughtfully determine specific terms of our final agreement. While we already know each other well, the due diligence period allows us to get to know each other even more and ensure that our final agreement is representative of our shared goals and commitments.

We know you have questions about what this means, and we are committed to keeping you informed every step of the way. For more information, check back to this site for updates or submit your questions using the form on this page.