Media Releases

Hospital Boards Approve Formation of Progressive Health

Milwaukee (Jan. 16, 2008) — The Boards of Directors of Columbia St. Mary’s and Froedtert & Community Health today announced the approval of a joint operating agreement to form Progressive Health, an organization that will financially integrate, govern and lead Columbia St. Mary’s and Froedtert & Community Health.

The name Progressive Health was chosen to reflect the system’s strong forward-thinking ideas about how health care should be delivered. The system includes an academic medical center that will ensure it remains on the leading edge of the research and technology that drive progress in health care.

Progressive Health is a community-academic partnership that will assure better care and more options for patients and responsible stewardship of healthcare resources for the community. It will be patient-focused, collaborative and results-oriented by:

improving patient convenience because its hospitals and clinics are in complementary locations throughout the metro Milwaukee area, and through the addition of new clinical sites and enhanced relationships with community physicians;
expanding and enhancing care coordination by electronically linking physician services, clinic sites and hospitals to provide continuity across the continuum of care;
continuing Froedtert’s strong partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin Physicians Group, and creating new links between the academic medical center and community hospitals;
offering comprehensive care and the resources to address health conditions from the common to the most complex;
exercising good stewardship of resources and strengthening already strong clinical programs such as cancer, neurosciences, cardiovascular, orthopaedics and women’s health.

William Petasnick, president and CEO of Froedtert & Community Health, and Leo Brideau, president and CEO of Columbia St. Mary’s, will serve as co-presidents of Progressive Health. This leadership model is reflective of the partnership philosophy that led the two strong health systems to form Progressive Health and which draws on the experience, shared leadership values and 20-year working relationship of both leaders.

Progressive Health will be led by a 16-member, community-based board of directors, which will be chaired by James B. Wigdale, chairman emeritus of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation and longtime community leader. Brideau and Petasnick will serve as members of the board.

Progressive Health will continue to emphasize managing costs while improving efficiency and quality. A recent study of Milwaukee area hospital operating costs from 2003 through 2006 by Milliman Inc. showed operating costs for Columbia St. Mary’s and Froedtert & Community Health consistently have been the lowest. An earlier 2007 study by the Benefit Services Group, Inc. showed similar results.

“Progressive Health will provide a tremendous opportunity to transform health care throughout this region,” Brideau said. “It will be the premier healthcare system, leading advancements in patient quality and safety, avoiding duplication and enhancing our obligation to be good stewards of community resources.”

“Progressive Health will offer our patients access to the latest technology, evidence-based care and highest standards of quality,” Petasnick said. “We will focus on treating each patient’s unique needs and strive to go beyond what is expected.”

“The partnership between these outstanding community hospitals and academic medical center is absolutely the right thing for this community,” Wigdale said. “As board chair of this new organization, I firmly believe Progressive Health will offer consumers a better choice, providing the highest quality care at the lowest cost while fulfilling our commitment to be good stewards of the community’s resources.”

“The Medical College of Wisconsin endorses the formation of Progressive Health and its strong commitment to academic medicine,” said T. Michael Bolger, president and CEO, Medical College of Wisconsin. “This new organization will expand existing links between our academic medical center and community hospitals, providing patients throughout our region with greater access to Medical College faculty physicians.”

Columbia St. Mary's and Froedtert & Community Health will continue to work through legal documents and regulatory review processes. The agreement is expected to be finalized in 2008.

Learn more at www.ProgressiveHealthPartners.com

About Columbia St. Mary’s

Columbia St. Mary's is comprised of four hospitals: Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee, Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Columbia, Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Ozaukee, and Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute, as well as 30 primary care clinics, the Columbia College of Nursing, and a partnership with the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin. The system serves Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Sheboygan counties, with more than 158 years of service. In 2006 and 2007, Columbia St. Mary’s was named a Solucient Top 100 Hospital. In 2007, Columbia St. Mary’s was one of only 14 hospitals in the nation to be selected by the National Cancer Institute as a pilot site for its Community Cancer Centers Program. Columbia St. Mary’s is transforming health care from its building projects to its leading cardiovascular services, robotic surgery, Trilogy cancer technology, Bariatric Services, Orthopaedic Surgery, Spine Center, Milwaukee Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Heitz Radiation Oncology Center, Van Dyke Haebler Center for Women’s Imaging, Wound Healing Centers, accredited chest pain centers, certified primary stroke centers, and full women’s health services. Columbia St. Mary's and its sponsor organizations, Ascension Health and Columbia Health System, share a mission to make a positive difference in the health status and lives of individuals in the community with a special concern for those who are vulnerable. For more information, visit www.columbia-stmarys.org.

About Froedtert & Community Health

Froedtert & Community Health is a regional hospital system formed in 2001 by Froedtert Hospital and Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls. Joining the capabilities of a 200-bed community hospital and a 450-bed academic medical center, Froedtert & Community Health delivers nationally recognized, cost-effective healthcare treatment and technologies from two hospitals and multiple clinic and program sites in Southeastern Wisconsin. In 2006, adult patient admissions for Froedtert & Community Health exceeded 34,000. Froedtert Hospital, together with the Medical College of Wisconsin, is the only academic medical center in Eastern Wisconsin and the area’s only adult Level One Trauma Center. Froedtert Hospital has been recognized for service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program and has earned American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) highest honor, "Magnet" status. Community Memorial Hospital specializes in cardiovascular services, women’s health, cancer care and advanced surgical procedures. Its heart surgery program is the third largest in Southeastern Wisconsin. Community Memorial Hospital is a 2006 recipient of the Wisconsin Forward Award, recognizing organizational excellence as defined by the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. For more information, visit www.froedtert.com and www.communitymemorial.com.

Author: Carolyn Bellin and Kathleen Schmitz

Date: Jan. 16, 2008