Piedmont Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta announced in April they would form a joint operating company to combine certain assets of both systems. Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, Ga., has broken ground on an open-heart center, which it will staff with surgeons from St. Joseph’s, and Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, Ga., plans to develop an open-heart center staffed by Emory University Hospital physicians, if the plan is approved by the state. Piedmont, however, is opposing the Southern Regional heart center, and a decision is expected by the state later this month.
The partnerships are different from traditional mergers or acquisitions in that they allow each entity to remain in place while allowing larger organizations the opportunity to expand their reach, according to the report.
Read the Atlanta Journal Constitution report on Atlanta hospital joint ventures.
