LakeView Announces Plans to Join Bronson Health SystemMay 17, 2007 PAW PAW, Mich. – The LakeView Community Hospital Authority Board of Directors has agreed to proceed with steps for LakeView to become a member of the Bronson family of companies. The board’s goals are to enhance healthcare services in Van Buren County and sustain the long-term viability of LakeView Community Hospital, according to Chuck Randall, chair of the LakeView board. “Discussions about taking the LakeView-Bronson relationship to the next level have been underway for quite some time, and both organizations have concluded that we can better meet the needs of the community if we work together as one unified health system,” Randall says. “I applaud my colleagues on the board for making this foresighted decision, which will not only sustain but expand healthcare services in Eastern Van Buren County.” The proposed transaction involves Bronson acquiring the assets of LakeView Community Hospital, its associated primary care practices, skilled nursing center in Lawton, LakeView Pharmacy in Mattawan, and Van Buren Emergency Medical Services (VBEMS) and managing them as part of the Bronson health system. Bronson Healthcare Group is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Mich., and includes Bronson Methodist Hospital, Bronson Vicksburg Hospital, Bronson Medical Group, Bronson Home Health Care, Bronson Outpatient Center-Paw Paw, Bronson Lifestyle Improvement & Research Center and the Bronson Health Foundation. The process of becoming a Bronson subsidiary is expected to take until at least the end of the year because of the time required for due diligence and state approval. In addition, LakeView, as a hospital authority, expects to seek voter approval of the transaction in the November election. LakeView and Bronson have had a joint affiliation agreement since 1990, in which:
“This is great news for both LakeView and Bronson and a logical next step in the longstanding relationship between our two organizations, and it is also important in terms of access to healthcare services,” says Bronson President & CEO Frank J. Sardone. “Bronson is committed to investing more than $20 million over the next decade to grow programs, services, facilities and technology to match the needs of patients and families in Van Buren County,” Sardone says. “This includes $18 million over the next five years as well as another $2.5 million to the LakeView Foundation over the next 10 years.” “We don’t expect everyone to come to Kalamazoo for care,” he says. “Instead, our goal is to strengthen the range, quality and value of healthcare services that can be experienced locally.” This continuing evolution of the LakeView-Bronson partnership is expected to benefit the LakeView service area, according to LakeView President & CEO Sally Berglin. “It has become clear over the 17 years of our partnership that LakeView and Bronson share a common vision for and commitment to quality healthcare throughout Southwest Michigan,” Berglin says. “With Bronson’s national reputation for quality care and organizational excellence, we could not find a better partner with whom to strengthen the health and healthcare of the patients, families, organizations and communities that LakeView has served since 1939.” About Bronson Bronson Healthcare Group is one of Kalamazoo’s largest employers. For four consecutive years, it has been ranked by Working Mother magazine and for three straight years by FORTUNE as one of the nation’s 100 best companies to work for. With a workforce of more than 4,100, Bronson makes a significant contribution to the local economy. Annually, Bronson provides more than $48 million in community benefits through outreach and charitable care for the un- and under-insured. Bronson also serves the largest percentage of Medicaid patients of any Michigan hospital outside of the Detroit area. Bronson Methodist Hospital, located at 601 John St. in downtown Kalamazoo, Mich., is the flagship of Bronson Healthcare Group, a not-for-profit healthcare system serving all of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. With 343 licensed beds and all private rooms, Bronson Methodist Hospital provides care in virtually every specialty—cardiology, orthopedics, surgery, emergency medicine, neurology, oncology—with advanced capabilities in critical care as a Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center; in neurological care as a JCAHO certified Primary Stroke Center; in cardiac care as the region’s only accredited Chest Pain Center; in obstetrics as the leading BirthPlace and only high-risk pregnancy center in southwest Michigan, and in pediatrics as one of only four children's hospitals in the state. The hospital is the recipient of the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence, and was named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals for 2005 by Solucient. About LakeView LakeView serves more than 40,000 people in Eastern Van Buren County and beyond with a complete and comprehensive healthcare system. This includes LakeView Community Hospital in Paw Paw; LakeView Family Care in Decatur, Lawton, Marcellus, Mattawan and Paw Paw; LakeView Continuing Care Center in Lawton; LakeView Pharmacy in Mattawan; Van Buren Emergency Medical Services; and the LakeView Foundation. LakeView Community Hospital’s patient satisfaction rating for acute care is 96 percent, which is exceptional, according to the Arbor Associates research firm. More than 90 percent of LakeView’s physicians are board-certified in the fields, well above the national average of 62 percent. LakeView’s doctors give LakeView’s nurses one of the highest approval ratings in the country, as surveyed by PRC, another leading research firm. As one of Van Buren County’s largest employers, with more than 620 employees, LakeView represents a full-service, non-profit family and community healthcare resource as well as a significant economic asset. LakeView, established in 1939 by the community, helps to foster a high quality of life in Van Buren County, Southwest Michigan and beyond. LakeView invested more than $2.6 million last year in the care of patients who could not afford pay for the care they received. For more information, visit lakeviewcares.com. ###
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