Details on the Premier Health and The Christ Hospital Health Network Partnership

By Lyndsey Pittman, service line director of cardiology and women's service lines, Premier Health

Effective July 1, 2023, Premier Health and The Christ Hospital Network entered a heart and vascular service line joint venture, one of the most exciting partnerships to date for Premier Health. Integration planning is underway through which Premier and The Christ Hospital Health Network will jointly manage, operate, and share the financial outcomes of inpatient and outpatient heart and vascular services provided to patients in our new combined service area. This partnership will give more patients in our region access to highly specialized cardiovascular care and leading-edge clinical trials. In an industry where resources are constrained, joining forces will allow both organizations to expand access, enhance services, and provide world-class care without duplication of resources.

The new joint venture is governed by a board of directors comprised of seven individuals: four Premier Health and three Christ Hospital representatives. The board will be the governing body and approval authority for the cardiovascular service line joint venture, responsible for developing the vision, strategic direction, and guiding principles of the service line. Last month, the board selected Deb Kiser as the chief executive officer of the joint venture. Deb will report to the board and collaborate as a dyad partner with Robert Bulow, DO, to lead the combined cardiovascular service line. Also reporting to the board are clinical and operational committees. These committees are comprised of key physician and administrative leadership from both organizations. They are tasked with a large scope of responsibilities, including physician staffing, medical staff privileging, quality improvement plans, performance benchmarks, operating and capital budgets, policies and procedures, IT plans, staffing, service, facility, and strategic operations. The committee meetings kicked off on Thursday, October 5.  

While the opportunities are endless, a focused approach is necessary to build a foundational framework that will allow future investment and innovation in the cardiovascular service line. Initial key focus areas will be CT surgery, structural heart, and advanced heart failure. There is a lot of work to be done, but the team is poised and ready to integrate. 

Growth is a strategic imperative, and we are better together. Collaborating with another high-caliber organization allows us to think differently, leverage talent and resources, share best practices, and ultimately provide higher-quality care to our patients. I look forward to reporting on our collective progress and successes in the future.  

Back to the October 2023 issue of Premier Pulse