JUST IN: Wright State, Premier Health move forward with teaching hospital
Apr. 26—Wright State University and Premier Health announced further plans to establish an academic medical center that the two organizations say will improve health care services in the Dayton region.
The agreement mirrors other hospital networks, like the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus and UC Health in Cincinnati. The agreement was first announced in December.
Premier Health will pay Wright State $10 million in the first year of the agreement and $15 million in the second to increase the class size at Wright State's Boonshoft School of Medicine and invest in Wright State's nursing program.
The agreement also calls for shared board representatives, frequent meetings between Wright State Boonshoft administrators and Premier Health administrators, and a joint appointment of a Boonshoft dean and Premier Health chief academic officer. The organizations have hired Russell Reynolds Associates to lead a national search for this new position.
Chief Operating Officer Greg Sample said a group of Wright State and Premier Health employees will work as a joint operating committee to meet all the expectations of an academic medical center.
The partnership is meant to produce more clinicians, nurses and other health care providers, add more research opportunities and provide patients access to medical care closer to home, Wright State officials said.
"We expect that a few years from now, fewer people will have to leave the Dayton region to receive the quality care they look for," Sample said.
Wright State has been using Premier Health as the primary place to train its students, particularly its medical students, since the 1970s, Sample said during the trustees meeting. But the agreement will let WSU and Premier Health qualify for more research grants, add disciplines that neither organization currently has, and both say it will improve medical care in the Dayton region.
The partnership is also meant to grow training programs in Premier Health's Middletown and Miami County locations.
The hospital system is anticipating new opportunities for growth and access to additional federal funding to bring physician residency programs to Upper Valley Medical Center in Troy and Atrium Medical Center in Middletown as part of this updated affiliation.
"From the beginning, we've recognized that this affiliation can be transformative for both institutions," said Michael Riordan, president and CEO of Premier Health. "There's just tremendous potential here to bolster our workforce and the future of health care in the region."
Wright State and Premier signed the agreement for 30 years. The agreement was officially approved at the Wright State trustees meeting Friday.
"This is the next step in the journey for both organizations and provides opportunities for our students and for our community that have not been available in this region for forever," WSU trustee Anuj Goyal said.
Premier Health employees more than 11,000 people and is one of the region's largest health systems with five hospital sites, including the region's only level I trauma center, Miami Valley Hospital. In addition, Premier Health provides care at seven emergency departments, eight urgent care locations and more than 130 outpatient locations.
