We would like to take this opportunity to provide our communities with an update about progress made regarding an affiliation between St. Margaret’s Health and Illinois Valley Community Hospital, as part of SMP Health System.
Since we announced our intent to affiliate in March, we have been going through a process called due diligence. This includes a comprehensive analysis of the operations and finances of both organizations, as well as legal and regulatory considerations. Through our due diligence, we will determine how an affiliation would enable us to better serve our patients and communities.
We are taking all necessary steps to make sure that we are going about this in the right way. We want to ensure that we move forward in a way that makes us stronger stewards of health care for our communities.
As part of this complex and lengthy process, our organizations have shared hundreds of documents and thousands of pages for review. Both organizations are working with experienced legal counsel and advisers who have special expertise in hospital partnerships.
While due diligence is progressing deliberately, we are still on track to achieve our goal, which is the signing of a binding definitive agreement, later this summer.
A leadership team from St. Margaret’s and SMP Health System met with IVCH’s Board of Directors and administration at the end of May.
The meeting was overwhelmingly positive, with leaders from both organizations discussing their shared vision for the future of health care in the Illinois Valley.
Both organizations, whose board members are comprised of local community and business leaders, see a great deal of potential in combining our strengths to improve access to high-quality health care and increase our service offerings close to home.
We look forward to sharing details of the proposed regional health network as they are developed. As soon as there is more information to share, you will hear it from us first.
We are grateful for the support received from our patients, staff and community members. We remain as committed as ever to working together to provide the best health care for residents of the Illinois Valley, now and long into the future.
Tommy Hobbs, Peru
Tim Muntz, Spring Valley
Note to readers: Tommy Hobbs is CEO of Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru, and Tim Muntz is president and CEO of St. Margaret’s Health in Spring Valley.