OHSU Clinical Collaboration

In June 2014, Mid-Columbia Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University forged an alliance designed to elevate to a new level the delivery of health services in the region.

The alliance is not a merger or acquisition. MCMC remains an independent hospital overseen by a board of local citizens.

One of the primary goals of the relationship is to keep our patients in the healthcare setting that is most appropriate for their healthcare needs. Most often that setting is their own community. Affiliating with OHSU helps us accomplish this by enabling us to offer a more comprehensive range of primary and specialty care services. In short, now MCMC is able to give our patients local access to many of the specialists and other resources of the state’s only academic health institution.

In 2015, MCMC implemented a new electronic health records system that now ensures patients who receive care both locally and at OHSU experience a seamless treatment experience.

The new affiliation between MCMC and OHSU is a natural outgrowth of several past successful collaborations. In addition to cardiology and dermatology specialty care, the two organizations have worked together to expand local access to orthopedic care. MCMC also is part of the OHSU Telemedicine Network, which enables local physicians to easily connect with OHSU specialists for long-distance consultations on stroke, pediatric and newborn patients.

Benefits of Partnering with OHSU

• Allows MCMC to quickly fill gaps in specialty care with highly trained members of the medical and teaching staffs of Oregon’s only academic health and research university.
• Gives MCMC a cost-effective way to expand the availability of specialty and subspecialty care in the Mid-Columbia and enable our patients to stay close to home for care whenever possible.
• Enables us to make available to our patients a breadth of care not typically found in smaller communities.
• Connects our physicians, staff and community with the vast expertise and resources of a state-of-the-art university and medical center.
• Facilitates the development of a telemedicine component and system of protocols that will speed the decision-making process and enhance the care of trauma and other patients.