Health systems sign LOI for ‘affiliation’

Health systems sign LOI for ‘affiliation’

Metro Health Hospital's rooftop garden is the second-largest green roof in Michigan. Courtesy Metro Health

A health system in the area is planning to join a major university health system in the state.

Metro Health said today that it and the University of Michigan Health System have signed a letter of intent for an “affiliation” between the two organizations.

The entities now enter a due diligence period where their operations will be reviewed and final terms of the affiliation will be negotiated.

Under the affiliation, Metro’s hospital and network of doctors and nurses would be brought "together" with the U-M Health System.

Metro Health said the affiliation would also expand the academic system's "care in western Michigan."

“It’s no secret that U-M has some of the best providers in the state and country,” Metro Health President Michael Faas said. “By joining the ‘leaders and best,’ we can build on our existing expertise and provide our patients and community with enhanced access to specialized health care services, scientific discovery and advanced technology.”

Faas added that U-M's "clinical enterprise" would "bring additional options for complex care" to Metro Health patients and the region.

U-M Medical School EVP of Medical Affairs and Dean Marschall Runge described the U-M Health System as "a top-ranked academic medical center with a world-class medical school, extraordinary hospitals and clinics and groundbreaking research facilities focused on moving cutting-edge discovery to patients’ bedsides in order to improve lives."

“We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Metro Health’s expert physicians and health care professionals in stepped-up ways,” Runge said.