Superior Health welcomes four new partners

Superior Health Partners keeps on adding more affiliates to the collaboration that started just last year with the reorganizing of Bell Hospital in Ishpeming and Marquette General Hospital in Marquette to share the SHP umbrella.

The partnership announced four new participants, three of which are local U.P. hospitals. They are Portage Health of Hancock, Baraga County Memorial Hospital of L'Anse, and Dickinson County Healthcare System of Iron Mountain. The fourth new partner is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, one of the largest health insurers in the state.

What will they all get out of this? Well, SHP hopes to make it possible to reach more people with higher quality health care, long a U.P. issue. The SHP health care delivery system now reaches farther – and, for the hospitals, they get more access to technology and specialist physicians, and better patient care outcomes.

SHP board chairman Tim Larson says there are other benefits, too, like better use of resources, and boosted employment possibilities.

"By combining resources, managing the talent of healthcare providers and proactively preparing for national healthcare reform, SHP will focus on enhancing quality healthcare services and medical treatments that are being delivered in the Upper Peninsula," says Larson. "The agreement will create more access, improved clinical quality outcomes, patient satisfaction and create more healthcare-related employment opportunities."

Perhaps most beneficial of all to the local health care systems is the decreased chance that patients will leave the U.P. for health care, such as the common practice of going downstate or to Wisconsin for specialized treatments. The sharing of resources and staff among SHP participants is planned to give U.P. patients in each of these hospitals' areas better access to health care and better quality care.

John Schon, administrator and CEO at Dickinson County Healthcare System, says this type of partnership is the future of local health care.

"National healthcare reform has added new challenges, and it is now more important than ever that we not only continue that strong partnership with our community, but find ways to collaborate with other hospitals to pool our resources for a more regional strengthening of healthcare services," Schon says. "As together we navigate the challenges that face us, we will all have a better chance to remain viable, and our patients will continue to receive the high quality, locally based healthcare they deserve."

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Tim Larson, Superior Health Partners