The board of directors of Liberty Medical Center (LMC) finalized a membership substitution agreement with Logan Health on June 22, 2022 — the final step in becoming a member of the Kalispell health system.
The membership substitution agreement (MSA) makes Logan Health the sole corporate member of LMC. With this arrangement, LMC will operate under the Logan Health banner, changing its name to Logan Health — Chester in the coming months. LMC will join other Hi-Line hospitals in Conrad, Cut Bank and Shelby who also became part of the system over the past year.
The new relationship gives the hospitals the opportunity to scale and share resources while also improving physician recruitment efforts and retention of staff. The single-member model offers LMC a great deal of local control while also allowing the medical center to enjoy the benefits of being part of a larger organization. As part of the agreement, LMC will retain its local board of directors. The plan also ensures that Mill Levy funding to LMC will stay local.
“Logan Health has an excellent reputation and a wide range of services that will enhance what we do locally,” says Shari Dolan, CFO and Interim Co-CEO. “From a long-range perspective, this is the direction that we needed to go. We’ve looked at other partners to do this journey with us. The mission, vision and values of Logan Health align so well with those of LMC.”
The board considered Logan Health’s vision of a local, regional care model to be the best situation for the community. Earlier this year, LMC partnered with Logan Health to implement a new electronic medical health record. As part of the member substitution agreement, Logan Health will help LMC enhance specialty services, upgrade the medical center’s infrastructure, and improve staff benefits. The goal is to begin integrating LMC with Logan Health this summer.
“Since 1948, LMC has successfully met the health care needs of the Hi-Line area,” says Larry Hendrickson, LMC Board Chairman. “We are excited about the partnership and the steps we are taking to ensure we are well-positioned to keep health care close to home for years to come.”