A ‘Strong’ Gifford Splits from Alliance

A ‘Strong’ Gifford Splits from Alliance

After a year-long study, the board of trustees of Gifford Medical Center voted last week to withdraw from the Dartmouth Hitchcock Alliance (DHA), a consortium of about 12 Vermont and New Hampshire hospitals.

This week, Gifford officials stressed that the shift will require some business changes, but will not in any way affect patient care, or Gifford’s relationship with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the DH Clinic, which are separate entities from the Alliance.

Through its physicians, the DH Clinic provides—and will continue to provide—direct patient care to Gifford patients, both in Randolph (alongside Gifford’s own physicians) and at the Lebanon, N.H.-based clinic.

"Gifford providers will continue to refer their patients to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and other medical centers as necessary," said Dr. Lou DiNicola, Gifford’s medical director.

Gifford’s CEO Joseph Woodin predicted that clinical relationships with DHMC "are going to be improved and clearer with this decision to move away from the business relationship with DHA."

Judith Irving, chair of the Gifford board, said this week that Gifford has "grown stronger through strong leadership" and was not only ready to break free of the alliance, but would benefit from independence.

Trustees agreed unanimously, with two abstentions, not to renew Gifford’s affiliation agreement, which expires next month. Gifford has been a DHA a member for nine years.

Although DHA offers benefits, it also subjects member hospitals to a numerous and slow-moving review processes that were hindering Gifford’s ability to move forward on initiatives in a timely fashion, Irving said.

A sub-committee, she added, had thoroughly reviewed all ramifications of the split, and had come up with alternative ways to fill the DHA services that would be lost when Gifford’s affiliation formally ends. The services include a purchasing pool, a medical malpractice insurance pool, and loan or bonding services.

Several years ago, Gifford made a similar step toward operational independence, when it broke with a regional patient billing service, based at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, to operate its own on-campus billing office.

CEO Woodin said this week that independence from the Alliance will give Gifford "greater flexibility to respond quickly to our own local needs, such as our anticipated nursing home expansion, the renovation of our Bethel Health Clinic, and the expansion of our radiology, food services and emergency department."

Woodin said he did not anticipate that the change would require the addition of any new staff.

Board Chair Irving noted that Gifford, with five consecutive years of operating in the black, has the best fiscal track record of all the hospitals in the DHA.

By Sandy Cooch