In an effort to expand the amount of services and level of healthcare provided for its patients, the Creighton University Medical Center and Alegent Health have decided to form a “long-term strategic affiliation.”
This affiliation was finalized on Saturday and as part of this newly established integration, Alegent Health acquired CUMC from Creighton University and Tenet Healthcare.
Upon the finalization of this acquisition, CUMC was renamed Alegent Creighton Health thus adding this new integration to the current list of 14 academic affiliations established between Creighton and Alegent Health.
Although this will bring about great benefits for the patients of the medical center, Creighton students will experience even greater benefits as this new increase in the amount of services and diversity of patients served will lead to a higher level of training and experience in their respective healthcare professions as these students complete their clinicals in the facility.
Assistant Vice President of Creighton Marketing and Communications, Kim Manning, believes that this Creighton and Alegent Health affiliation has been designed in a way that will ultimately “benefit the entire community.”
“Patients can keep their physicians; economies of scale will free up resources to reinvest back into academic programming and healthcare delivery; additional specialists will be accessible through the joint physician groups; and student healthcare training will be enhanced through access to a broader and more diverse base of patients,” Manning said.
Manning also feels that the new Creighton-Alegent Health integration will significantly improve the quality of the services and assistance that the CUMC was able to provide to the community because this affiliation combines both Creighton and Alegent Health’s dedication to educating students and serving the community.
“By integrating an academic healthcare organization into the broad delivery of care, the new Alegent Creighton Health system can improve quality, access and efficiency of patient care while enhancing the education experience of students and residents,” Manning said. “Additionally, both organizations have unwavering commitments to continue to serve the underserved population. In fact, it is part of their faith-based missions.”
Although Manning holds that patients won’t notice any major changes in the medical center environment following the completion of this integration, she anticipates somewhat of a positive change in student’s learning environments as this affiliation “opens the door for many new opportunities for the medical school, nursing school and the pharmacy school/ health professions to expand the student’s clinical experience.”
“The long-term goal [of this affiliation] is to provide a multi- specialty clinic that offers physicians the best place to practice medicine, the best place for staff to care for patients, the best place for students to learn and the best patient experience for the community,” Manning said.
A representative from Alegent Creighton Health that was closely involved in the organization of this integration said that the Creighton- Alegent Health affiliation will prove to be ideal as it combines the best aspects of both organizations.
“[This affiliation] weaves together Alegent’s strong primary and specialty care base with Creighton Medical Associates’ depth in specialty care for better patient access,” the representative said. “And as for how it will benefit both CUMC and Alegent – we are stronger together. Alegent will learn best practices from CUMC and vice versa. We are now ONE organization which allows us to support one another in all things.”
In order to get all of the necessary arrangements in line to finalize this affiliation, Alegent and Creighton held extensive conversations about how they could “expand their strong relationship” developed from years of working together through the creation of a strategic affiliation that would make Alegent the primary teaching site for the Creighton schools of Health Sciences.
Following the completion of this affiliation, the medical center’s leadership team worked diligently to develop a transition plan built entirely around “patient care and safety.”
“We went into the transition with the goal of making this change seamless for patients and that is what was delivered,” the Alegent
Creighton Health representative said. “Patients will continue to receive the same high-quality, compassionate care at CUMC as they do at all 11 Alegent Health – now Alegent Creighton Health hospitals and Alegent Creighton Clinics.”
This Alegent Creighton Health representative also said that this affiliation will have many positive benefits for all parties involved as integrating these two health care providers will allow Creighton and Alegent Health to assist a broader range of patients and make a greater impact on the medical community.
“From a healthcare provider perspective, we are forming an integrated academic health delivery system that answers the call of healthcare reform, broadens our footprint in the region, will improve quality, access and
efficiency of patient care while enhancing the education experience of students and residents,” the representative said.
After hearing about all of the many benefits that will be provided to students seeking healthcare professions as a result of the Creighton-Alegent affiliation, Nursing freshman Karie Nwadike said she feels very privileged to attend a school like Creighton that offers its students such meaningful opportunities.
“I feel so fortunate to have such a strong foundation [at Creighton] that allows me to have so many types of opportunities to not only learn but also to grow and help me to become the nurse that God wants me to be,” Nwadike said.