2 northern Ohio hospital systems announce alliance

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Two hospital systems with a big presence in northern Ohio say their new alliance will improve access to health care and allow them to share techniques to treat patients while also cutting costs.

The deal announced today between the Cleveland Clinic and Toledo-based ProMedica centers on making services more efficient at a time when health care systems are facing higher costs.

“Things have changed so dramatically, and we’re undergoing so much change that we need to do things in a much more effective and efficient manner,” Randy Oostra, ProMedica’s president and chief executive officer, told The Blade newspaper in Toledo.

ProMedica operates nine hospitals in northwest Ohio and two in southeast Michigan. The Cleveland Clinic operates nine hospitals in northeast Ohio.

The alliance isn’t a merger, and both health care systems will continue to operate independently. Instead, they’ll work together to save costs and share their expertise. They also will continue to look at adding more partners.