Hospital Partnerships
Colorado’s hospitals are facing historic uncertainty, budget cuts, and increases in uncompensated care. Hospitals thrive when collaboration, innovation and partnership are prioritized, especially as the health care system navigates increasing state and federal instability. At the same time, Colorado hospitals support transparency and appropriate oversight of those critical partnerships.
CHA’s Take:
Health care is an interconnected ecosystem: Hospitals anchor a complex ecosystem that includes patients, physicians, nurses, clinics, behavioral health providers, long-term care, emergency medical services, and community partners.
- Transactions and partnerships are often designed to maintain services, stabilize staffing, and coordinate care, not to consolidate market power.
- Disrupting one part of the system can trigger cascading effects – reducing access, increasing costs, and fragmenting care delivery.
- Maintaining appropriate staffing levels is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly in rural hospitals.
