In October 2021, War Memorial Hospital, now MyMichigan Medical Center Sault, signed a definitive agreement to affiliate with MyMichigan Health.
Now, nearly one year later as the Medical Center nears its anniversary of becoming a member hospital, the relationship continues to strengthen with numerous projects and efforts underway.
“We are delighted with the progress of our affiliation with MyMichigan and couldn’t ask for a better partner. In fact, we recently completed our conditions of use and have been extended official use of the ‘Block M,” said Kevin Kalchik, M.H.A., C.P.A., president of MyMichigan Medical Center Sault which was recently named a High Performing hospital for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) care by U.S. News & World Report. “Our hope in becoming a member of the health system was to bring new physicians to the region, continue to improve our quality of care, and offer new services. We are delighted to be making strides in so many areas and look forward to what is to come.”
Since partnering, improvements in telemedicine have been made; the onboarding of a new oncologist, primary care provider and general surgeon have taken place; and facility improvements are being planned, including the installation of new external signage set to occur in a few short weeks.
According to Kalchik, several internal integration milestones have also been made, including policy alignment, contract and integration savings, leadership programming development, student scholarship access and the alignment of the Medical Center’s Daily Safety Briefings with the health system. The Sault’s affiliation with MyMichigan Health has also recorded expense savings and assured consistent and strategically relevant capital reinvestment into the community.
“Since our partnership began, the benefits MyMichigan Medical Center Sault is experiencing are in large part a result of the hard work of our integration teams. Leaders from both organizations have worked tirelessly to integrate our systems, technologies, and staff,” said Greg Rogers, president and CEO, MyMichigan Health. “Their passion for excellence wasn’t just to ensure our partnership succeeds, but more importantly to ensure our patients receive the high-quality care they deserve.”
In addition to the progress made in the nine months, MyMichigan Medical Center Sault will also transition to Epic, MyMichigan’s electronic medical record (EMR) system, in spring 2024. The new system will enable each patient to have one comprehensive medical record shared across the MyMichigan Health-employed providers and facilities who deliver their care. This will result in faster, more accurate communication, streamlined processes and cost-saving efficiencies. The project will also bring MyMichigan Health facilities onto the same platform for registration, scheduling and billing.
“Both our patients and employees will greatly benefit from this technological advancement and the seamlessness in care it will bring amongst all member hospitals,” said Kalchik.
In the coming months, work on the strategic and master facility plans will continue in order to identify the first projects to be initiated. Recruitment efforts in 2023 will focus on practitioners in primary care.
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