New partnership will be the first of its kind in Oregon.

Salem Health and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have signed a letter of intent that brings the two organizations one step closer to a comprehensive clinical affiliation.

The affiliation will be the first of its kind for Salem Health and OHSU, and the first of its kind in Oregon. It will create a new joint management company that allows Salem Health and OHSU to manage their respective clinical services as an integrated health system, while retaining the strengths of each organization.

The new affiliation aims to strengthen the two organizations’ leadership in health care transformation in Oregon by building a sustainable, community-based health care approach that will improve quality, create better outcomes and reduce costs for patients. Success ultimately will be measured by the health and well-being of the populations served.

“This partnership supports our mission to lead health care transformation, and our approach is distinct,” said Peter Rapp, executive vice president of OHSU and executive director of OHSU Healthcare. “We’re creating an Oregon-based solution that builds strength in communities across Oregon, rather than a traditional central headquarters model.”

The management company will have responsibility for integrating and managing the strategic, financial and clinical functions of the clinical enterprises to optimize value of health care to those served. Salem Health and OHSU will retain their separate boards of directors, and employees will continue to work for their respective organizations.

“This affiliation will bring the scale, resources and expertise to deliver world-class, value-based health care to the community,” said Norm Gruber, chief executive officer of Salem Health. “Salem Health and OHSU have experience working together and share a commitment to our patients. The signing of this letter of intent is an important milestone.”

While many health organizations have focused on acquisitions or mergers, OHSU has steadily been building more than 30 affiliations with other health organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington during the last decade. The Salem Health affiliation will be the most substantial, delivering access to health care in a seamless, broad network of clinically integrated providers and service locations.

“Salem Health and OHSU recognize our responsibility as stewards of health care, and we believe this path will deliver the best care to our patients for decades to come,” Gruber added.

Salem Health is a leading health care provider in the mid-Willamette Valley and OHSU is the state’s only comprehensive public academic health center.  Salem Health and OHSU already have experience working together. The two institutions have built affiliations between the Salem Cancer Institute and the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, as well as between Salem Hospital’s women’s and children’s programs and OHSU’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.   

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About Oregon Health & Science University

OHSU is a nationally prominent research university and Oregon’s only public academic health center. It serves patients throughout the region with a Level 1 trauma center and nationally recognized Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. OHSU operates dental, medical, nursing and pharmacy schools that rank high both in research funding and in meeting the university’s social mission. OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute helped pioneer personalized medicine through a discovery that identified how to shut down cells that enable cancer to grow without harming healthy ones. OHSU Brain Institute scientists are nationally recognized for discoveries that have led to a better understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and new treatments for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and stroke. OHSU’s Casey Eye Institute is a global leader in ophthalmic imaging, and in clinical trials related to eye disease. 

About Salem Health

Salem Health is comprised of Salem Hospital, West Valley Hospital, Willamette Health Partners and other affiliated health care organizations offering exceptional care to people in and around Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley. Salem Hospital received the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence™ from Healthgrades in 2014, placing it among the top 5 percent of more than 4,500 hospitals nationwide