Earlier this week, Cincinnati-based Mercy Health announced plans to acquire Paducah-based Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky, but now, community members are raising concerns, according to a Jan. 11 report from NBC affiliate WPSD.
Previously, Mercy Health did not have an orthopedic practice, and the partnership will offer its patients access to a broader range of services including orthopedics, surgery, imaging, rehab and therapy.
Some patients of the orthopedic institute and of Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health expressed concerns for how this might change their access to care.
Currently, the institute's surgeons provide call coverage for Baptist Health orthopedic patients. Mercy Health and Baptist were both vying to acquire the practice, according to the report.
Mercy Health's Kentucky president, Michael Yungmann, told WPSD that not much is expected to change for any patients following the acquisition.
"The services should be relatively unchanged. I believe, if anything, we will have some locations for patients to be able to see care, perhaps, in even a more cost-effective location as well. Immediately we're committed to the orthopedic surgeons still providing call coverage for Baptist Health as well," he told WPSD.
He also said that Mercy aims to keep the entire Orthopedic Institute team on staff. The system has promised that all staffers will have their positions for at least 12 months while the practice is integrated.
"Ourselves and Baptist Health, we try to partner with certain areas in the community and we have during the seven years that I've been here, and I don't see that changing, you know. There will always be competition between the two. We're here to compete, but also there's a certain decency and fairness that we practice within that competition to make sure that, in the end, the community's needs are met," Mr. Yungmann said.
"Baptist Health Paducah is committed to providing our patients with quality care and services. The physicians with The Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky remain on the hospital’s medical staff and will continue to operate at our hospital. Baptist Health Paducah will continue offering minimally invasive orthopedic surgeries, personalized therapy and rehab services, as well as emergency orthopedic and trauma care," Kenny Boyd, president of Baptist Health Paducah, told WPSD.