Superior Health Partners Expand to Munising
Munising Memorial Hospital and Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital are the latest healthcare providers in the Upper Peninsula to join Superior Health Partners. The addition of those two facilities brings the number to seven Upper Peninsula healthcare organizations to join the SHP healthcare delivery alliance
SHP is a healthcare delivery system formed in 2010 by Marquette General Hospital (MGH) to enable more people to receive accessible, quality healthcare in the Upper Peninsula.
“We are proud to have Munising Memorial and Schoolcraft Memorial as a member of our SHP alliance,” explained Gary Muller, who is also president and CEO of SHP, and of Marquette General Hospital. “It takes visionary leadership at both the administrative and governing board level among U.P. healthcare providers to expand the benefits of such a unifying alliance.”
MMH President and CEO Kevin Calhoun said, “Marquette General Health Systems and its CEO Gary Muller have taken a leadership role in creating Superior Health Partners and setting its mission to both increase the quality and effectiveness of local health care as well as making local health care more affordable. Munising Memorial is pleased to join SHP and help support the fulfillment of its mission.”
Schoolcraft Memorial CEO George Montgomery said, “Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital is excited to be part of this growing alliance of hospitals committed to providing quality health services in the communities we serve. This partnership will also help to ensure that patients can remain here in the UP for tertiary services.”
In August, Portage Health of Hancock; Baraga County Memorial Hospital of L’Anse; Dickinson County Healthcare System of Iron Mountain; and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan joined SHP.
Muller said, “By combining resources and managing the talented combined pool of healthcare providers, SHP will focus on enhancing quality healthcare services and medical treatments that are being delivered in the Upper Peninsula.”
Muller says the SHP alliance does not diminish U.P. community hospital independence. He says while the affiliation with SHP will strengthen each hospital’s ability to compete with out-of-state healthcare providers, which in recent years have systematically tried to steer specific healthcare services out of the U.P. Patient “outmigration” accounts for at least $80 million healthcare funding to leave the Upper Peninsula, primarily to Wisconsin.