DeKalb Health Now Parkview DeKalb
Article by KPC Media | KPC News | October 1, 2019
AUBURN — DeKalb Health has officially joined Parkview Health, the organizations said in a news release dated for today.
Following a due-diligence period that began in March, the boards of both organizations approved the affiliation in late August, with an Oct. 1 start date.
The Auburn hospital becomes the sixth community hospital to join Parkview Health and will be named Parkview DeKalb Hospital.
“We’re proud to welcome DeKalb to Parkview Health,” said Mike Packnett, president and CEO of Parkview Health. “Our organizations share a commitment to delivering excellent, community-centric care, and this partnership will strengthen the foundation of health and well-being for Auburn and the surrounding communities. We’re excited to be a part of DeKalb County not only as a health care provider, but also as a community partner.”
“We look forward to the future as part of Parkview Health,” said Tasha Eicher, who becomes president of Parkview DeKalb Hospital after serving as CEO at DeKalb Health since March 2018. “Together, we will honor the history of DeKalb Health and continue to build on its success. This partnership strengthens our ability to provide high-quality care in DeKalb County for many years to come.”
The transition will be gradual, and the public can expect to see changes in signage over the next several months, Parkview said. Many physicians will be transitioning to Parkview Physicians Group, and patients will be notified as those changes become final.
As with Parkview Health’s other community hospitals, Parkview DeKalb Hospital will maintain a local board of directors and its own foundation for philanthropic efforts, the release said. All funds donated to the new Parkview DeKalb Foundation — formerly the DeKalb Health Foundation — will be used to support local health and wellness needs in DeKalb County.
DeKalb Health opened its doors in 1964 and has served the health care needs of DeKalb County and surrounding communities for more than 50 years. The hospital is licensed by the State of Indiana as a nonprofit, 56-bed, acute care health care facility, providing a variety of inpatient and outpatient services.
Parkview Health is a not-for-profit, community-based health system, serving a northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio population of more than 850,000. With more than 12,000 co-workers, Parkview Health’s mission is to improve health and inspire well-being in the communities it serves, the release said.
In March, when the two hospitals revealed their intention to form a “strategic partnership,” DeKalb Health listed its work force at 650 employees.
DeKalb’s and Parkview’s emergency rooms have been staffed by the same physicians group in recent years. DeKalb Health also recently adopted its new electronic medical records system in partnership with Parkview Health, allowing specialists at Parkview to see all of a patient’s information from DeKalb Health.
Headquartered at its large campus on Fort Wayne’s northeast side, Parkview Health also operates regional hospitals in Kendallville, LaGrange, Huntington, Columbia City, Warsaw and Wabash.
In addition to its main campus in east Auburn, DeKalb Health has operated two clinics in west Auburn, a clinic in Butler and a clinic and pharmacy in Garrett.
Article source: https://www.kpcnews.com/thestar/article_0a70e5e4-4373-5ac9-ab2f-db2a1361b2d5.html