Anniston, AL – The Health Care Authority of the City of Anniston (RMC) Board of Directors and leadership team announced today that they have launched a strategic exploration process to determine if a potential partner could help sustain and improve local access to high-quality, low-cost care close to home and support the long-term growth of Northeast Alabama.
“RMC’s Board is specifically exploring ways to improve local access to the best healthcare,” said Jay Jenkins, Chair of the RMC Board of Directors. “RMC has proudly served this community for more than 100 years and we’re excited about the ways our patients, communities, employees and providers may benefit from a potential partnership, including increasing RMC’s ability to bring new services and specialty care to our local region.”
The Board identified several core considerations that are key to meeting the healthcare needs of Northeast Alabama and supporting the continued economic development of the region. Specifically, RMC is focused on exploring how a potential partner could advance its vision, with a focus on:
- Excellent Clinical Care: RMC has important opportunities to better meet patients’ needs by expanding access to critical services and bringing new physicians and new kinds of care to the local region.
- Supporting Employees and Providers: It is important to the Board that any potential partner is a good cultural fit, embraces RMC’s values, supports the vital role RMC plays in the region and helps position RMC as an employer and clinical partner of choice for the entire medical community. By equipping clinical teams with the resources needed, RMC will be better positioned to continue providing excellent care while maintaining its role as one of the largest employers in Northeast Alabama.
- Supporting Growing Communities: Recently Calhoun County and the surrounding communities have experienced considerable economic growth. As the region continues to develop, local communities must have a healthcare system that can meet the growing healthcare needs of the future.
- Equipment, Facilities and Technology: Infrastructure investments that support patient care have a domino effect, bringing more physicians, qualified staff, training and services with them. These investments are critical to improving RMC’s quality of care and keeping pace with industry demands.
- Care Close to Home: RMC believes people should be able to see their doctors and receive the highest-quality services they need close to home. RMC must continue to evolve to ensure the best care is available right here in the local region.
RMC entered this process thoughtfully, proactively, and from a stable position, which allows the health system to explore a range of options from some of the most respected healthcare organizations in the country.
“Our mission is to provide state-of-the-art healthcare with integrity, to the people we serve. And that’s not something we take lightly,” said Louis Bass, President and CEO of RMC. “We are looking for a potential partner that understands our mission and shares our values.”
During the strategic partnership exploration process, RMC’s priority will continue to be providing exceptional care to patients. This process will not impact the health system’s daily operations, and nothing changes today for patients, employees or the community.
“We are committed to keeping our community, patients, and staff informed every step of the way,” said Bass. “This is an important milestone for RMC, and I’ve never been more excited about our future.”
During the press conference Jenkins started by thanking the board and staff for the excellent work that they do on a daily basis to make RMC the best quality health care facility in the community. He stated they intend to continue to do everything to ensure a bright future for the patients, the employees, the providers, and the community. He explained that today’s healthcare landscape is changing and operating as a standalone organization is becoming increasingly rare and challenging. meaningful partnerships and collaboration are required for success in securing the best outcomes for those that we serve. With that future in mind, he shared that the RMC board of directors and leadership team have launched a thorough and deliberate process to determine if a potential partner could help us sustain and improve access to high-quality, low-cost care close to home and to support the long-term growth of our communities. He shared that the vision is simple. They intend to continue to provide excellent clinical care, continue to invest in equipment, facilities and technology enhance the ability to provide the best care close to home and positioning ourselves to meet the needs of our growing communities. With these things in mind, RMC began this process, but he stated “The truth is, we’ve always been in this process. We’re always exploring ways to ensure that RMC can deliver the best health care to our communities and meet the evolving needs of our patients.” He wanted to make it clear that RMC “Sits in a very stable position at this time, we took a very proactive approach to this and looking at options.” We also stated they recognize, “That a partner could help us and invest in improving local patient care in ways that we could not easily do on our own. We’re looking for a partner that will share RMC’s, long standing commitment to quality, safety and patient experience. One that will invest in our armed services technology, equipment, facilities and people and one that most importantly, will support our current employees and providers.” He acknowledged they are early in the process and that there has been a rigorous eight months of engaging in various discussions, meetings, and inquiries into other potential partners. He said they can now announce that list has been narrowed and they are “in the final stretch.” He stated they have several partners that are looking to join with RMC that can make a tremendous difference in the community. He did state they were not prepared to share those names because “competition is good for the soul is important that those that are vying for our service to understand that they are in competition.” He also would not go into details on the exact nature of the potential partnership because each proposal is different. He did say he was looking for a conclusion mid-fall and that “simply stated, our staff and our employees, our providers are our number one priority. We expect any relationship that is developed out of this to allow us to grow services, to expand our workforce and to better support the critical roles that each of our service providers give to us.
About The Health Care Authority of the City of Anniston
The Health Care Authority of the City of Anniston (RMC) is the premier regional health care provider for a five-county service area in northeast Alabama. With a total of 338 inpatient beds located at its Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center campus, 125 at its Stringfellow Campus, and numerous outpatient facilities, urgent care and specialty clinics, RMC is the region’s leading provider of choice. More than 1,900 employees, 300 volunteers and over 200 physicians, who represent a full range of medical specialties – including cardiac, women’s, orthopedics, oncology and emergency services – provide state-of-the-art healthcare to patients with integrity, skill and compassion.