Samaritan, Confluence affiliation talks still ongoing

MOSES LAKE — Samaritan Healthcare and Confluence Health announced intentions to form an affiliated organization about one year ago. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the vision is getting closer to being realized.

Samaritan CEO Theresa Sullivan said the two organizations are still working on the formation of a terms sheet for the prospective affiliation, which would essentially lay out the structural makeup of the partnership. Some unexpected events slowed the process, like the resignation of Samaritan’s then-CEO Tom Thompson in September 2015. But more than anything, Sullivan said, the process of defining the parameters of the affiliation is one that simply takes time because of its many moving parts.

“We are trying to work through and figure out what meets our critical success factors, our guiding principles, regulatory or legal kinds of issues, what’s going to work financially, and then how does it agree with both organizations,” Sullivan said. “So we have still been working toward that terms sheet.”

As for a timeline for when the partnership may be finalized, Sullivan said that matter is nothing more than educated guesswork. Sullivan said it is possible that there will be more news from the affiliation process in May, but there is no certainty to that estimation.

“I think we are getting close,” she said.

Even if the process of developing the final terms sheet is close to its end, though, that doesn’t mean the affiliation will be official immediately following. After the structural shape of the partnership is determined, there will still be more plenty more work to be done to hammer out each and every detail before the deal is closed.

“We are hopeful that if everything goes right, maybe we could see something toward the end of the year (in terms) of a closing of a transaction, but again, there is still a lot of process that has to happen.”

Though the process has been long and involved for both organizations, Sullivan said it has been smooth, all things considered — meaning there have been no major controversies to speak of. Both Samaritan and Confluence “have a common goal,” she said, so they are working well together.

The goal of the affiliation is to “maintain an integrated regional health care system that delivers high quality, efficient, and cost effective health care for Grant County and the north central Washington region,” according to the original announcement from last March.

What does that mean for local residents and their health care?

With dialogue still ongoing between Samaritan and Confluence and the partnership’s parameters not yet defined, it’s hard to say. But Sullivan said there are a few target areas, without specifics, within which residents can expect to see improvements if and when the affiliation becomes official.

The first is enhanced collaboration between health care providers in the area. Sullivan said currently, many health care organizations operate on different information systems, preventing smooth transfer of patient records between providers. Even at Samaritan, the hospital recently switched to the EPIC electronic health record, while the clinic is not yet on the same system. One goal of the affiliation process is to put health care providers in the area on the same page so they can seamlessly transfer information to better serve patients.

“Right now, when you look at something like information systems, you have providers on different systems. We (Samaritan and Confluence) could have a common system with EPIC,” Sullivan said. “That’s a big deal for patients as they are moving from clinics, hospitals. Why don’t you have my record if I was seen in the clinic? Why don’t you know that?”

Continuity of health care is a major selling point for the partnership. Sullivan said aligning the services offered by both organizations will also benefit local residents seeking care.

“Health care is changing and we really need to be coordinating care across,” she said. “So if somebody goes to the hospital for care, how is that information coming back to make sure that their provider in the clinic has that information?”

Of course, improving local access to care is at the center of the prospective partnerships. But in order to do so and to expand services offered in the area, more doctors will be needed. Fortunately, Sullivan said they expect to see improvements in the recruitment of physicians and other providers once the affiliation takes place.

“It’s easier to do that when you are able to do that together,” she said. “And that will help us — when you talk about growing services, a lot of times in order to grow or expand services, you have to be able to recruit doctors or other health care providers. I think we can improve doing that together.”

Although the current condition of the local health care system is apparently stable, Sullivan said the affiliation is expected to ensure stability for years to come. While both organizations are healthy today, she said a partnership between the two can contribute to maintaining that stability.

“With health care reform and the way that health care is changing, we want to look to the future while we are healthy and we want to be able to retain that local health care control as much as we can,” Sullivan said. “Partnering with a partner like Confluence really makes a lot of sense in doing that proactively, rather than going, ‘OK, we thought we were doing good and we were, but now we are not anymore.’”

Put it all together and the vision is really to make Moses Lake “more of a hub for health care services.” Being situated an hour and a half from any other care, Sullivan said a Samaritan-Confluence can push Moses Lake toward being the area’s epicenter of health care.

“I think there is more that can be offered here,” she said. “To me, what a service to the community if it can all work out.”

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.