Hospital union won't mean lost jobs

Hospital leaders stressed Wednesday that employee layoffs would not be part of the upcoming affiliation that puts North Valley Hospital under the oversight of the Kalispell Regional Healthcare System.

“No employees are losing their jobs … and it’s because we’re actually pretty lean,” Velinda Stevens, Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s president and chief executive officer, said during a news conference Wednesday.

She estimated that there are currently more than 300 open jobs waiting to be filled between the two hospitals.

Stevens said the hospitals’ governing boards have been working toward joining forces for three years.

In October 2015, both boards voted in favor of a nonbinding letter of intent to explore the possibility of the affiliation. On March 28, the boards reached an agreement on the governance bylaws that establish North Valley as the third hospital (in addition to The HealthCenter and Kalispell Regional Medical Center) under Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s umbrella.

The new relationship goes into effect May 1.

Kalispell Regional Healthcare’s absorption of North Valley Hospital brings the total employee count to roughly 3,500 people, Stevens said. Annual gross revenue for the affiliated hospitals will be about $500 million a year with the addition of North Valley Hospital’s $80 million.

Stevens said the hospitals uniting does not take away people’s choice to go to one place over the other.

“We’ve been doing more than 70 percent of working closely together already,” she said. “The people that work on those units actually know the patients have a choice, and it keeps them sharp and on their feet.”

Jason Spring, North Valley’s chief executive officer, added that the affiliation won’t destroy the spirit of competition.

“Just because we’re within a system doesn’t mean we still won’t push ourselves to be great, even against our sister hospital within the system,” Spring said.

He said the move matches a national trend and small hospitals joining forces in other parts of the state has proven successful.

“The health-care environment is rapidly changing,” he said. “We’ve been watching that for the last few years and working together for a long time.”

Across the nation, there were 346 health-care industry mergers or acquisitions in the first quarter of 2015, or 109 percent more than the first quarter of 2014, according to a study by Irving Levin Associates.

Spring said while North Valley falls under Kalispell Regional, it will hold onto its identity.

The affiliation will include working together on physician recruitment and creating new clinics so there’s not unnecessary overlap between the hospitals, he said.

There are roughly eight transition work groups, Spring said, ranging from business professionals to nurses and board members.

Spring said the first stages of the affiliation will prioritize creating a shared records system involving the hospitals and their connected clinics. The hospitals currently have separate electronic medical records and about 12 databases. Spring estimated it would take 18 months to work down to one system.

He said the affiliation supports the hospitals treating a shared population. “It gives us a chance to experiment or pilot with programs and services and say, ‘Does it work here or not work here?’ and can we transfer some of those best practices both places?” he said. “I think you’ll continue to see choice and that uniqueness.”

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.