Now that the merger between Legacy Health and PacificSource has been consummated, the squeeze is already being felt by Portland Adventist Medical Center and Tuality Health – neither of whom were part of the deal and both of whom have strong alliances with Oregon Health & Science University, which – together with its insurance partners, Oregon Health CO-OP and Moda Health, could go head to head in competing for self-insured employers by virtue of having an integrated healthcare system.
In her order, Insurance Commissioner Laura Cali said the acquisition will infuse $247.5 million in new capital to PacificSource, without significantly altering operations, while Legacy has become a co-owner of the health insurer, having a 50 percent ownership.
According to confidential sources, Legacy is pulling its open heart surgeons out of Tuality this summer, and will no longer provide robotic consultations for pediatric emergency room patients and high-risk obstetric patients. Portland Adventist is also being impacted in similar ways, while OHSU is likely to pick up these services in the months ahead.
MHN Remains Intact
However, Legacy isn’t about to shed its relationship with Adventist over Managed Healthcare Northwest anytime soon. Together the hospital systems own MHN, a preferred provider organization comprised of 4,757 physicians and other professionals, including 1,228 primary care providers that represent 115 medical and clinical specialties. Of MHN’s providers, 77 percent of the PCP’s and 85 percent of the specialists are board certified.
Legacy sorely needs this strong network and is dependent on these East side physicians since Providence doesn’t share its strong provider network. “They’re caught and stuck with Adventist even though they’d like to sever relations,” a confidential source told The Lund Report.
A for-profit corporation, MHN was formed December 1, 1988 through the merger of CareMark Services and Northwest Health, Inc. As such, its financial records are not available to the public. Although Legacy and Adventist are equal partners, it’s unknown whether they also share equally in profits.
Diane can be reached at [email protected].
