Hospital system purchases practices

Akron Beacon Journal

Akron

University Hospitals is boosting its Akron presence with the purchase of several primary-care physician practices in the region.

The Cleveland-based health system recently acquired five doctor offices in the Akron area, said Dr. Michael Nochomovitz, president of University Hospitals Physician Services, which employs about 1,500 physicians throughout Northeast Ohio.

The recent deals add 21 doctors, several nurse practitioners and roughly 100,000 patient visits annually in the Akron region to University Hospitals’ physician practice network, Nochomovitz said.

One of the practices — Children’s Medical Group Inc. in Akron — is led by a doctor who was next in line to become president of the medical staff at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Dr. D. Douglas Hackenberg, president of Children’s Medical Group, said the five-doctor practice opted to become part of University Hospitals after determining it needed to align with a larger partner to meet future requirements to monitor and measure quality of care.

University Hospitals includes Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital — Akron Children’s Hospital’s biggest rival.