Dignity Health to help manage county hospital
STOCKTON — The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors and Dignity Health announced Tuesday that after a year of discussions and negotiations, both parties have agreed to a management services agreement.
Through the agreement, Dignity Health will provide advice and assistance toward the day-today administration of San Joaquin General Hospital, the county said.
“The ongoing pandemic has underscored the future vulnerability of a stand-alone public hospital with limited payer sources,” board chair Chuck Winn said in a media statement.
“It would be irresponsible for the county not to consider an agreement with a strong regional health system,” he added. “A management relationship with Dignity Health would help San Joaquin General Hospital better meet its obligations financially, provide continued quality health care, conduct its operations more efficiently, and expand services for its residents. This will help ensure San Joaquin County residents can access essential services well into the future.”
The county evaluates relevant public health industry trends every 10 years to determine the need to establish a relationship with an external entity to improve the future viability of the hospital.
In 2020, the county decided that exploration of an agreement was warranted, given the extraordinary situation with the pandemic and other external industry indicators, staff said.
That February, the county formed an ad hoc hospital committee to explore possibilities with an external health care provider.
As a result of numerous meetings with several health systems, the committee found it would be in the county’s best interest to pursue a formal agreement with Dignity Health.
On Feb. 9 of 2021, the board of supervisors approved a Letter of Intent with Dignity Health to pursue a potential agreement.
“This agreement between San Joaquin General Hospital and Dignity Health represents the alignment of two exceptional organizations with mutual missions of serving vulnerable populations while maintaining and enhancing access to care and improving the health of the communities we serve,” Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center president and CEO Donald Wiley said in Tuesday’s media statement.
“We look forward to working together and forming lasting relationships with the San Joaquin County community to make a difference in peoples’ lives,” he said.