Wexner Medical Center and Mercy Health launch new alliance

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Mercy Health, a Catholic health ministry serving Ohio and Kentucky, have launched Healthy State Alliance to tackle Ohio’s most critical health needs and make a difference in improving the health of communities.

The Alliance brings together two organizations with complementary missions, capabilities and talents. Wexner Medical Center offers highly specialized and differentiated clinical services and more than 2,000 clinical trials. Mercy Health, part of Bon Secours Mercy Health, brings a vast geographic footprint with proven clinical services and a thriving accountable care organization. Together, they have created the Alliance to leverage their respective strengths, significantly expand access to life-changing care and improve the health of all of those they serve.

The Healthy State Alliance has identified 10 objectives. Due to the pressing health care needs in the state, it will focus early efforts on three objectives in particular: addressing the opioid epidemic and increasing access to cancer and transplant care.

• State and federal statistics show that Ohio is among the top five worst states in the nation with the highest rate of opioid-related deaths; more than 4,000 Ohioans died of unintentional overdose in 2016. 
• Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in Ohio and the United States. Ohio is among the nation’s leaders in both cancer rates and cancer-related deaths – with more than 25,000 Ohioans dying from cancer in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• One Ohioan dies every other day waiting for a life-saving transplant, and more than 3,000 Ohioans are waiting for a transplant at any given time, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

“This is a phenomenal opportunity to combine our expansive footprint with one of the nation’s preeminent academic medical centers to ensure our patients get access to the best available care closer to home,” said John M. Starcher, Jr., president and CEO, Bon Secours Mercy Health. “Together, we can work in new and creative ways that haven’t been done before. We will be nimble, share our best thinking and collaborate among our care providers much faster than we could by working alone.”

Together, the organizations have a shared vision for a better health care future and a focused mission to treat every person they serve with dignity, respect and excellence. The Alliance will also bring exciting opportunities for collaboration and access to continuing medical and graduate education, and training for the organizations’ employees and physicians.

“With this new partnership, we are determined to create healthier communities throughout the state of Ohio and across the region. Through the Healthy State Alliance, we are uniquely positioned for success based on our shared vision of convenient access to differentiated clinical care across the state, a relentless focus on quality, our combined size and scale, a focus on decreasing costs and our similar values and culture,” said David McQuaid, chief executive officer of The Ohio State University Health System.

The collective resources of both organizations will provide increased access to more than 50,000 team members and more than 600 points of care throughout the state. Additionally, patients will benefit from enhanced access to one of the nation’s premier transplant centers that has already saved more than 9,600 lives, one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country and assets of one of America’s leading research universities, which will be leveraged to address the most critical health needs in Ohio and beyond.

More information can be found online: http://healthystateforall.org