Herington Hospital and Amberwell Health today announce an affiliation which will make Herington Hospital the third hospital-based organization to join the Amberwell Health clinically integrated network. With the addition of Herington Hospital and its associated clinics, Amberwell Health will include ten clinically integrated healthcare locations.
Herington Hospital will retain local ownership and will not be merging with Amberwell Health. Herington Hospital CEO Isabel Schmedemann and the same local Board of Directors will continue operational management and the day-to-day control of the organization. Through the affiliation, Herington Hospital will benefit from being a part of a larger network that shares services, group savings, and expertise resources, and Amberwell Health further fulfills the system’s mission to sustain and strengthen rural healthcare organizations.
According to The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, over 50% of rural hospitals in Kansas are at high financial risk for closure. The Amberwell affiliation model is an innovative solution to the struggles facing rural healthcare organizations. Amberwell Health affiliates are committed to investing in people, facilities, and equipment to ensure that access to robust local healthcare continues in Amberwell communities.
Over the next few months, Herington Hospital and associated clinic locations will undergo rebranding and individual service lines will begin evolving to improve patient access to a full spectrum of care close to home. Patients and community members can follow updates on the integration at amberwellhealth.org/herington.
About Herington Hospital
Herington Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital that was established in 1919 and is located 30 minutes south of Junction City in Herington, Kansas. The Herington location provides inpatient care, outpatient services, surgical care, maternal care, emergency care, and primary care and sponsors two additional primary care clinics in Junction City and Hillsboro, Kansas.
About Amberwell Health
Amberwell Health is an innovative healthcare system with a mission to sustain and strengthen rural healthcare organizations. Through affiliation with Amberwell Health, clinically integrated organizations share services, expertise, and group savings while retaining local operational management. Amberwell locations include hospital-based facilities in Atchison, Kansas and Hiawatha, Kansas that provide a full spectrum of patient care, as well as numerous primary care and specialty clinic locations.
