DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Decatur Memorial Hospital will soon become the second largest hospital in the Memorial Health System, pending regulatory approval.
In late April, the boards of both healthcare organizations reached an affiliation agreement. The full affiliation is set to happen Oct.1.
President and CEO of Decatur Memorial Hospital Timothy Stone, Jr. said, "Joining a neighboring, like-minded, leading healthcare organization will help us provide lower cost, higher quality healthcare using innovative practices and technology."
"This affiliation with Decatur Memorial Hospital and the physicians who serve those communities is a significant milestone in our efforts to increase access to healthcare across central Illinois,” said Ed Curtis, president and CEO of Memorial Health System. “With the addition of Decatur Memorial Hospital, we are able to do more for our region.”
Decatur Memorial Hospital has more than 2,300 employees and 300 medical staff and is the third largest employer in Decatur and Macon County.
Officials said the affiliation will help improve access to care in the region.
Decatur Memorial Hospital will maintain local governance and leadership of its day-to-day operations with the MHS affiliation.
DMH also will maintain a local community board of directors and will have directors serving on the MHS board.
WAND asked Stone how the change would affect staff:
"At the outset, we're not expecting any change," Stone said. "As with any coming together, we're not doing this just to maintain the status quo."
We also asked how it would affect patients.
"The same great care that they have been accustomed to, it will still be there," Stone said. "We will just have more opportunity for enhanced services, and we'll be a bigger and better healthcare system."
