The Toledo Clinic and Wood County Hospital Expand Relationship

The Toledo Clinic and Wood County Hospital Expand Relationship, Announce Active Collaboration To Better Service Community Release Toledo, OH, November 18, 2020 – The Toledo Clinic (TTC) and Wood County Hospital (WCH) have a long history of successful joint ventures together. Today, the two organizations enhanced their long-standing collaboration by establishing Independence Health, a formal partnership that further expands each entity’s ability to provide further access to quality, affordable care. By capitalizing on the strengths and strong community relationships of both groups, Independence Health will be able to serve patients more effectively, efficiently, and economically.

“For nearly 95 years, The Toledo Clinic has evolved to meet the needs of the communities we serve,” said Mike D’Eramo Chief Administrative Officer of The Toledo Clinic. “This growing alliance continues that spirit of progress and change. Our collaboration over the past few years revealed many opportunities of how working together could expand the level of care and services we are able to offer northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. In fact, our hope is that more independent organizations will consider joining with us in growing the services of Independence Health to better serve the patients of our community.”

While Independence Health is a new step, collaboration between TTC and WCH is well established. This collaboration directly helps those served by both organizations and provides many opportunities to access and benefit from all the services that both offer, including the guidance and expertise of a multidisciplinary team of professionals and specialists. For example, TTC specialty physicians within six in-demand areas including Oncology (medical and radiation), Pain Management, Urology, Neurology, Vascular, Primary Care and General Surgery have been providing vital service to WCH patients for the past several years. “This partnership is exciting because of the potential it will unlock,” said Stan Korducki, President, Wood County Hospital. “We are looking forward to continuing to provide access to outstanding specialists and other services that our communities would normally not have access to. Both WCH and TTC will retain a deep commitment to their independence as that has been a key factor in our individual successes, while looking for other like-minded organizations that would be interested in partnering with Independence Health to provide better healthcare to our communities.” By building on the strengths and successful programs of both TTC and WCH, Independence Health will offer benefits to employers as well as in-demand services to the community such as a new program launching in 2021 called Senior Care Advantage. This new program will be for patients covered by Medicare Advantage plans (from Aetna, Anthem, Humana and Paramount), and help expand the cooperation and coordination between TTC, WCH, and insurance companies. Two additional new programs will include Employer Services, which seeks to engage direct to employer contracts for organizations that are searching for a means to improve quality of care, cost of care, and better access to providers; and, a dynamic Physicians Services program to help form collaborations with other independent partners. Relying on nearly three decades of experience, Dr. Lawrence Monger Jr., MD – an Internal Medicine specialist – will lead Independence Health as Medical Director, leveraging his in-depth and vast experience to evolve and streamline the partnership. Dr. Monger attended and graduated from Case Western Reserve University School Of Medicine in 1994 and is affiliated with many local healthcare institutions including TTC, WCH, Flower Hospital, Mercy St. Anne Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, ProMedica Toledo Hospital, and The University Of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC). Dr. Monger most recently served as the Chair of Medicine and Medical Director for Van Wert Medical Services. About Independence Health Independence Health is a platform to allow independent provider partners to effectively engage in bonafide business opportunities. It is a partnership, between The Toledo Clinic and Wood County Hospital, to advance care while addressing clinical and business opportunities such as service development and alignment, manpower recruitment and retention, payer and employer contracting/Pay4Performance and provider enterprise operations and cost and efficiency improvements. About The Toledo Clinic The Toledo Clinic is a multi-specialty group practice, consisting of over 270 independent physicians and associated healthcare professionals, practicing in 40 medical and surgical specialties, at more than 60 locations, across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Learn more at ToledoClinic.com. About Wood County Hospital Founded in 1951, Wood County Hospital is a private, not-for-profit general acute care facility, licensed for 196 beds, that serves a population of over 72,000 in Wood, Henry, Seneca, Sandusky and Hancock counties in Northwest Ohio. Wood County Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. Learn more at WoodCountyHospital.org.