Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth and Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services are creating a strategic affiliation to enhance healthcare in the communities they serve, beginning with a new health and wellness center in Vancouver, according to The Register-Guard.
The health center will offer primary care, pediatrics, rehabilitation, nutrition and fitness. According to PeaceHealth CEO Liz Dunne, the center will focus on improving access to healthcare services. It will be built on a 16-acre parcel Providence owns in Vancouver, and the building will be jointly owned by both systems, according to the report.
Both Providence and PeaceHealth noted this arrangement is not an act of consolidation.
"This is not a merger," said Ms. Dunne, according to the report. "This is not an acquisition. This is truly a strategic affiliation and partnership in the communities that we are already serving."
Ms. Dunne said the center represents the first step and a structure for the two systems to continue working together in different communities. They signed a letter of intent on Monday to collaborate on health and wellness projects.
The plans are still in the preliminary stages, and neither system expects changes employment to be made as a result of the affiliation.