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Cottage Health System and Sansum Clinic announced Tuesday morning their plan to merge and develop an integrated health system.
The move would combine the three Cottage hospitals — in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez — and Sansum Clinic’s 23 ambulatory sites.
Cottage Health System would become the corporate member of Sansum Clinic, “bringing the enterprise into the Cottage Health System,” according to a press release.
The two parties plan to complete due diligence by Oct. 1.
“The communities we serve and the patients who entrust their care to us would be the real beneficiaries of this merger,” Dr. Kurt Ransohoff, chief executive officer for Sansum Clinic, said in a statement. “Our ability to work together across the inpatient and outpatient care continuum is one of the many exciting parts of this proposed collaboration.”
The proposed deal would have Cottage “ensure the availability of capital needed to expand health-care services for the community through the work of Sansum Clinic and its affiliated physicians” as well.
Ron Werft, president and CEO of Cottage Health System, said “further improvements in quality, outcome and affordability will require formal collaboration among physicians and hospitals.”
He added: “As health-care reform takes hold, we are taking the necessary steps to meet the needs of patients in our communities. Sansum Clinic has the mission, infrastructure and track record to play an essential role in meeting these demands.”
Sansum Clinic is an independent, nonprofit medical foundation and will serve as the medical foundation for Cottage, which is a nonprofit.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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