Henry Ford Health launches its joint venture with Ascension Michigan Tuesday, a move Henry Ford President and CEO Robert Riney sees as critical to the expansion of value-based care and its insurance plan.
By taking over eight acute-care hospitals and an addiction treatment center formerly run by Ascension Michigan, the no-cash deal allows Detroit-based Henry Ford Health to expand its footprint and boost the system's workforce to 50,000 employees. The system has ambitious plans for the next decade, expecting to spend $5 billion to fund growth in Southeast Michigan.
Related: Henry Ford Health, Ascension Michigan to combine in $10.5 billion system
In an interview, Riney said Henry Ford is open to additional growth opportunities and he sees system employees as playing an important role in expanding the health insurance plan. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are Henry Ford Health's goals following the joint venture with Ascension Michigan?
We're going to do a few things. One is being very thoughtful about welcoming all 17,000 new Ascension team members into our family.
The second thing we'll be doing is looking at how we make sure that the community sees no disruptions, but instead sees enhancements in the ways care can be delivered by looking at things like clinical service lines and making sure we're spreading best practices across the entire enterprise. If there's a best practice in one of the legacy Ascension facilities, then we need to spread that throughout the entire new enterprise.
The third thing we'll be looking at is how we create new network-based products with our health insurance company to take advantage of the unique geography that we will have throughout all the communities of Southeast Michigan and greater Flint.
What made the joint venture attractive to Henry Ford Health?
We've been one of the nation's leaders in value-based care and organizing care so it can be convenient for all the communities that we serve. And we have a health plan, Health Alliance Plan, that's been an important part of the journey around value-based care. Value-based care is a great way to make sure you're taking a holistic view, with a patient as a partner in their own care.
The opportunity to broaden the communities we serve through all of the locations that are part of Ascension Southeast Michigan and the greater Flint area was really consistent with that strategic goal.
How will the joint venture affect your insurance arm?
This is all about value-based networks. Our own employees, including the new team members, will be insured by our Health Alliance Plan, and therefore can see the benfits of it and become, in essence, our chief spokespeople, our chief marketing officers, for the unique value of the plan.
What are Henry Ford Health’s growth strategies?
We want to continue to grow Henry Ford Hospital, which is our largest hospital in Detroit, positioning it for the most complex tertiary and quaternary care. We've announced a $2 billion development of a brand new bed tower, new emergency room and new procedure rooms, all designed to not only take care of the needs of our immediate communities, but to be a real destination place for complex care.
We’re also teaching the next generation of caregivers through our university relationships, particularly our partnership with Michigan State University. We’re taking Detroit, which has always been a hub of innovation, and doubling down on what we can do from a medical and research standpoint, to create the next generation of solutions, the next generation of pharmaceutical discoveries and cures.
Is the health system on track to meet its fundraising goals?
We set a goal of $750 million for our capital campaign, and we announced two weeks ago that we are already at $488 million in commitments.
When we launched the new development of Henry Ford Hospital, we met with over 100 individual and separate community groups representing neighborhoods, representing businesses, to really hear about what they wanted to see, anything they wanted improved. And we took a lot of those changes to heart and made a lot of modifications in our design elements. People have felt not only a sense of engagement in this project, but a sense of being heard, and that translates into philanthropic dollars.
How is the system's Detroit campus expansion project going?
We've had two groundbreakings in the last two quarters, one for the state's largest research building in partnership with Michigan State University, and the second for the new hospital campus. The energy from the business community, our neighborhoods and elected officials in the state has been just wonderful.
As we build the new bed towers, we're looking at how we can use automation to help the process. There's a lot of applications of autonomous development to healthcare, and having this right in our backyard allows us to work directly with engineers and ask, "What are the applications of drone-based deliveries of supplies?"
What role do you see ambulatory surgery centers playing in the system's expansion?
We just recently opened two state-of-the-art, multi-specialty ambulatory medical centers in the suburbs of Detroit. They're doing exceptionally well because of the experience that we've created for patients.
The customer satisfaction scores are off the chart in these facilities, and they complement a cadre of existing ambulatory health facilities that we have throughout the marketplace. We've got a nice mix of hospitals, ambulatory facilities, retail and home-based services. It's a really full continuum, and scaled in a proportional way.
Does Henry Ford Health have additional expansion plans within or beyond Michigan?
We've got a lot on our plate, so we're going to make sure that we're implementing and driving the value that we need. Having said that, I am always of the belief that you stay open to opportunities that make sense for you. We have an enormous amount of positive momentum going on at Henry Ford Health right now.
We believe that culture is what produces energy and makes us all want to go that extra mile on behalf of each other and our patients. So we're going to stay true to that no matter how large we get. We are committed to having the soul of a small company.
