The Christ Hospital and Ohio Heart & Vascular Center, Inc., Announce Affiliation
Sep 10th 2008
The Christ Hospital and Ohio Heart & Vascular Center, Inc., Announce Affiliation
Cincinnati – The Christ Hospital and Ohio Heart & Vascular Center announce an affiliation creating the region’s most comprehensive heart and vascular program, which will enhance and expand leading-edge cardiac care in the Greater Cincinnati and surrounding regions. The affiliation will be the first of its kind in greater Cincinnati bringing a prominent cardiovascular physician group together with the premier heart hospital in the region. As part of this affiliation, The Christ Hospital will acquire certain assets of Ohio Heart & Vascular Center and its assets, and employ the physicians and employees of Ohio Heart & Vascular Center. The transaction is expected to occur over the next few months.
Physicians of Ohio Heart & Vascular Center will maintain their current presence and operations with The Christ Hospital and other area hospitals and health care providers throughout the region. The physicians will also continue to see patients in all of their current office locations. Ohio Heart patients will continue to choose their doctor and which hospital they desire to go to for their care. The agreement makes no changes to patient access or locations.
The integration of The Christ Hospital and Ohio Heart & Vascular Center provides added support and resources to ensure that Ohio Heart’s nationally and internationally recognized physicians continue to practice in Cincinnati and the surrounding communities. This collaborative strategy also ensures the highest level of patient care through education, research and innovative procedures made available to Ohio Heart physicians through The Christ Hospital. Greater alignment between the organizations will allow them to work together more closely and create a premier cardiovascular platform similar to the top programs in the country. Together, Ohio Heart and The Christ Hospital will be able to organize the resources to facilitate more research, new and expanded heart and vascular services to meet our community’s needs, and attract and retain the highest quality physician talent available.
“We are excited about the partnership because it’s a significant move forward for heart care in our community. We are fortunate to have such talented cardiovascular physicians throughout the area, and it is imperative we continue to retain and recruit them for the future,” said Susan Croushore, President and CEO, The Christ Hospital. “The Christ Hospital and Ohio Heart & Vascular Center share patient-focused missions that support the continued development of sub-specialty expertise and programs, introduction of cutting edge technological advances in heart disease diagnosis and treatment, and recruitment of the finest medical talent from the best training programs throughout the country. We are pleased to partner with these internationally renowned physicians to provide an enhanced level of cardiac care for the communities in and around Greater Cincinnati.”
“We are proud to affiliate with The Christ Hospital to provide the highest level of cardiovascular care for our region,” says John Schneider, M.D., FACC, President and CEO, Ohio Heart & Vascular Center. “By combining the resources of two comprehensive cardiovascular programs, we will significantly advance care. Together we can provide Greater Cincinnati residents with the highest quality of cardiac care – from prevention and treatment to research and education. The synergies achieved by the alignment of these two nationally recognized medical organizations should allow our community to receive locally the most advanced cardiovascular care attainable anywhere. It should also catalyze the further development of a clinical and research program in cardiovascular disease that will allow us to be become not only a regional referral center, but a national referral center.”
Many hospitals across the United States have effectively engaged in similar employment arrangements with cardiovascular groups to deliver a seamless, enhanced level of care for patients. Examples of these hospitals include: Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio; Ohio State University Medical Center; University Hospital and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio; and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, Georgia.
About The Christ Hospital
The Christ Hospital is a 555-bed, not-for-profit acute care facility, offering services in cardiovascular care, spine treatment, women’s health, major surgery, cancer, behavioral medicine, orthopedics, emergency care, kidney transplant and others. The hospital also offers The Christ Hospital Medical Associates, a primary care physician practice with several office locations throughout the Tristate. The Christ Hospital is consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s top hospitals, and was ranked 26th in the nation for heart and heart surgery in 2008. It has been named Cincinnati’s Most Preferred Hospital for 12 consecutive years by National Research Corporation (NRC). For more information about The Christ Hospital, visit www.TheChristHospital.com.