(This article was corrected on July 25, 2013.)
A group of 23 hospitals in central and south Georgia have formed an alliance to pool resources, coordinate information and manage population health in the region.
The new organization is a not-for-profit limited-liability corporation named Stratus Healthcare and was conceived as a way for the providers to collaborate while remaining independent. It grew out of the April 2012 partnership between Central Georgia Health System, Macon, and Tift Regional Health System, Tifton.
The Georgia healthcare landscape is divided between the four or five integrated systems that dominate the Atlanta market and the largely unconnected hospitals in the rest of the state, said Ninfa Saunders, who joined the Central Georgia Health System as president and CEO in September.
“The one thing I thought was missing was the ability to coalesce this region,” she said. “As opposed to competing with each other, you can come together for a common goal.”
A governing body consisting of the CEOs from each of the medical centers will oversee the alliance.