Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital Considers Summa Partnership: Akron Health System in Talks With Independent Facility About Potential Alliance That Would Benefit Community

By Cheryl Powell, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Apr. 25–Akron’s Summa Health System might be expanding into Medina County if talks with Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital move forward.

Spokespersons from both hospitals confirmed Tuesday that talks about forming some type of relationship are ongoing.

“Both sides have come to the table to look at opportunities where we might be able to come together to benefit the community,” Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said.

The two sides have been having discussions for about three months, but no specific agreements have been reached, Bernstein said.

“Potential ideas have been discussed,” he said. “At this point, we’re just two organizations discussing ways we can benefit the community, but that’s as far as it’s gone.”

Wadsworth-Rittman is one of the few remaining independent hospitals in the region.

In recent years, the hospital has been losing money, largely because of changes several years ago in how the federal government pays for outpatient services, decreases in Medicare and Medicaid rates, and increasing costs.

Summa has been under contract with Wadsworth-Rittman for several years to provide the Medina County hospital’s occupational and physical therapy services.

The community hospital is not exploring partnering with any facility in the region other than Summa, Wadsworth-Rittman spokeswoman Beth Winter said.

“We’re talking about if there are things we can work on together,” she said. “… I would expect, it would seem logical, that they would look at all types of different relationships to see what fits best.”

No deadline has been set for any deals to be reached, Bernstein said.

“The discussions will go on as long as necessary to determine that we have an agreement in place or there’s not going to be an agreement,” he said.

It’s not unusual for independent community hospitals to team up with larger medical systems.

Not only can hospitals save money by pooling their purchases and services, but they also can gain power to negotiate better reimbursements from insurers.

By finding a bigger partner, small hospitals can secure much-needed capital or access to lower interest rates to fund equipment upgrades and renovations of aging buildings.

In turn, the larger hospitals get to expand their market and receive more patient referrals — something that’s particularly attractive in growing communities like Medina County.

In fact, Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital isn’t the only facility in Medina County that’s looking for a potential partner.

Earlier this year, Medina General Hospital President and Chief Executive Gary Hallman confirmed that the hospital is considering partnering with a bigger health system in Akron or Cleveland.

“The process continues and we are still having conversations with Akron General Medical Center, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Summa Health System and University Hospitals,” Hallman said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

In recent years, Summa’s leadership has made no secret about its desire to form more partnerships in the region.

At the beginning of this year, Portage County’s Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna finalized an affiliation with Summa.

Under the agreement, Summa is helping to run Robinson’s financial operations as well as its materials management, managed-care contracting and other operating and administrative services.

And in January, Summa joined with rival Akron General in working with Select Medical Corp. to build a long-term acute-care hospital on East Market Street in Akron.

The new facility will serve patients from both health systems.

Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

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