ovenant Health has been selected as the finalist in Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System+s Request for Proposal (RFP) process regarding an affiliation partner for MHHS. The announcement does not mean that an affiliation is complete, but rather that MHHS will now begin negotiations exclusively with Covenant Health.
A. Quillen Eiseman, President of the MHHS Board of Directors, has confirmed Covenant Health as the finalist in the Request for Proposal review initiated several months ago as part of MHHS’s Strategic Planning process.
"One major element of our strategic plan was the assessment of affiliation partnerships to address managed care, capitalization, and other needs anticipated by the healthcare system in the future", said Eiseman. "Utilizing criteria such as mission/vision; capital commitment; governance structure; managed care; physician relationships; affiliation relationships; community commitment; reputation/quality; organizational effectiveness; market presence and service continuum, the Board of Directors selected Covenant Health to begin the negotiation process."
"Needless to say, Covenant Health is extremely pleased to be chosen as the finalist in Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System’s affiliation search," said Alan C. Guy, President and CEO of Covenant Health. "Throughout this process, we’ve felt a high degree of similarity between our respective organizations’ mission, reputation for quality, not-for-profit healthcare, and commitment to improving overall community health. We are obviously pleased that the Board of Directors of Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System agree. With this announcement, we can now begin the process of building a foundation upon which we can better care for the community."
According to Mr. Eiseman, MHHS engaged a consulting firm to assist the Board of Directors in the preparation and issuance of the RFP’s. Six area healthcare systems were invited to participate in the RFP process: They were: Community Health Systems (parent company of Lakeway Regional Hospital); Baptist Health System; Covenant Health; Johnson City Medical Center; St. Mary’s Health System and the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Covenant Health is the community-owned, not-for-profit healthcare organization created through the 1996 consolidation of Fort Sanders Health System of Knoxville and MMC Healthcare of Oak Ridge, the parent company of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. In addition to Methodist, the company’s other hospitals include Fort Sanders Loudon Medical Center, Loudon; Fort Sanders Parkwest and Regional Medical Centers, Knoxville; Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center, Sevierville; and Peninsula Hospital, Louisville. Covenant Health also includes numerous physicians, outpatient and specialty centers across the area and several state-wide insurance companies.