The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System announced today a strategic collaboration agreement with Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital and Shoals Hospital in Northwest Alabama.
Under the five-year agreement, UAB will collaborate with the two regional hospitals, part of RegionalCare Hospital Partners, on projects that will focus on helping deliver more effective healthcare to the Shoals area.
“Eliza Coffee Memorial and Shoals Hospitals are important providers of healthcare services in Northwest Alabama and UAB is pleased to enter into this new strategic collaboration,” says Will Ferniany, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the UAB Health System. “Collaborations with regional healthcare providers are extremely important as UAB works to become the preferred academic medical center of the 21st century.”
“The beauty of this collaboration is that it brings together the state’s leading health organization, which is the UAB Health System, with our regional hospitals and provides the opportunity to collaborate on projects with goals to improve healthcare delivery in our area,” says Martin S. Rash, the chairman and chief executive officer of RegionalCare Hospital Partners. “We are committed to providing the highest quality, compassionate healthcare in hospitals serving regional markets, and we are confident this association with the UAB Health System will help achieve that commitment. We look forward to exploring additional opportunities with UAB to grow the level and range of services we provide in the Shoals.”
Loren McCoy, M.D., the chairman of the Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital board, received his undergraduate and medical degrees from UAB; he also completed his internship and residency programs at UAB as well.
“I developed a love for medicine and patient care as a student at UAB, and I know first-hand the good work that comes out of the school as it educates physicians for Alabama and the rest of the country,” McCoy says. “I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with UAB on future projects.”
While Eliza Coffee Memorial and Shoals Hospitals will be considered an associate of the UAB Health System, the agreement centers around working together to solve fundamental issues in healthcare delivery. Administrative duties and governance will remain separate and the collaboration does not include the sharing of any fiduciary responsibilities.