Franciscan Health System Explores Affiliation with Highline Medical Center
Date
07/23/2012
Article Text
The boards of Highline Medical Center, Burien, WA, and Franciscan Health System, Tacoma, WA, approved a letter of intent to explore a possible affiliation. During the next several months, an affiliation committee of Highline and Franciscan representatives will evaluate the benefits of an alliance and how best to structure a relationship that could optimize the expertise of both organizations. The soonest a formal affiliation could occur is early 2013 with the approval of a definitive agreement by the Highline and Franciscan boards. That agreement would then require approval by the Washington State Department of Health and other regulatory agencies, which could take six months or longer. Highline Medical Center, established in 1958, includes a 154-bed acute care hospital, 115-bed specialty center, more than 20 clinics and the Highline Medical Center Foundation. Highline has more than 1,500 employees and a medical staff of more than 200 physicians with active and courtesy medical privileges.
