New joint venture moving forward at SJMH Chelsea

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and Michigan Medicine commemorated their new joint venture of St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea with a ceremonial tree planting in the hospital courtyard. This partnership is a continuation of both health systems’ efforts to expand access to health services, including specialized surgery and physicians previously only available on Michigan Medicine’s campuses. Leadership on hand for the program included David Spahlinger, M.D., president, University of Michigan Health System; Rob Casalou, president and CEO, Mercy Health and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System; Jeffrey Desmond, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Michigan Medicine; Nancy Graebner, president and CEO, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea and Rick Gilfillan, M.D., CEO, Trinity Health.

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) and Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, have signed a definitive agreement to establish a master affiliation and a joint venture for the 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea hospital (SJMC), effective immediately.

Following Trinity Health Michigan Board’s previous approval, the University of Michigan Board of Regents recently approved the master affiliation and joint venture, which will allow two strong health systems to join forces and enhance care provided to local communities. Both organizations are committed to providing the right care, at the right time, in the right place through shared clinical objectives and bringing more care options closer to where patients live.

As announced in March 2017, the two health systems signed a letter of intent to carefully examine the feasibility and structure of the proposed joint venture. The two parties have completed this due diligence period and finalized the terms of the definitive agreement under which SJMHS and Michigan Medicine will both have an interest in St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. As both the majority and managing partner, SJMHS will provide leadership, nurses and staff and continue to oversee all hospital operations.

“It has been a pleasure working with Michigan Medicine to create a care delivery model that uses both of our existing strengths to benefit patients,” said Rob Casalou, president and CEO, Mercy Health and SJMHS. “Our health systems have a long history of working together and this joint venture is a continuation of our efforts to expand access to health services, including specialized surgery and physicians that were previously only available on Michigan Medicine’s campuses.”

“SJMHS has a long-standing, positive reputation for delivering high quality care, which makes this an excellent partnership for Michigan Medicine,” said David Spahlinger, M.D., president of the University of Michigan Health System, the clinical care enterprise of Michigan Medicine. “With this affiliation, Chelsea-area patients will have expanded care choices closer to home.”

Michigan Medicine serves patients from across the state through a network of relationships with health systems, hospitals and physicians, Spahlinger said. He added that formation of strategic relationships will help manage the growing need for hospital beds in the University of Michigan hospitals in Ann Arbor.

Michigan Medicine and Trinity Health, which owns and operates St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea Hospital as part of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, have a history of successful collaborations based on the complementary attributes and resources of Michigan Medicine as an academic health system and Trinity Health as a health care system with unique capabilities operating community hospitals.

The joint venture builds upon the existing Michigan Medicine family medicine residency clinic that has been located on the St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea campus since 1978. The joint venture expands the surgical procedures that Michigan Medicine provides at St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, as well as increases access to Michigan Medicine physicians for patients in Chelsea and across western Washtenaw County.

Construction will begin shortly on the seventh and eighth operating rooms at St. Joe Chelsea. More services and surgical procedures will continue to be explored as the partnership advances.

“We have experienced a highly productive year at St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea as we have prepared for expanded services and greater collaboration with our Michigan Medicine doctors,” said Nancy Graebner, president and CEO, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. “We are now primed to begin working together operationally through this new joint venture with a smooth process in place.”

All St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea staff will remain SJMHS employees, and no staff reductions will take place as a result of this agreement. Additional colleagues will be recruited as needed to support medical and surgical volumes. All Michigan Medicine employees, including doctors, residents and house officers who may work at Chelsea, will remain employees of the University of Michigan. St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea will retain its Catholic identity and continue to abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives.

Nationally recognized for both quality of care and patient satisfaction, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea employs more than 1,200 individuals with a medical staff of approximately 500 physicians. Key services include robust medical and surgical service lines, six operating rooms, a 24-hour emergency department and senior emergency room, state-of-the-art cancer center with TrueBeam™ linear accelerator, physical medicine and rehabilitation department, a comprehensive head pain treatment unit and behavioral health services. Founded in 1970, the hospital joined SJMHS in 2009 as a way to strengthen patient care by becoming part of a large health care system.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.