Two recent substantial reorganizations will soon occur in the medical care community in Kitsap County, resulting in new ways the community will receive much of their health care.
CHI Franciscan Health, a company with significant ties to the medical communities of King, Pierce, and Kitsap counties, is shaking things up on the peninsula. It has operated Harrison Medical Center now for a few years, and recently announced that it would close its largest hospital – in Bremerton – and move most of those services 7 miles north to its Silverdale campus. CHI is planning a large expansive of the Silverdale campus in part to accommodate this shift.
In another move, CHI announced a merger with The Doctors Clinic, which includes about 80 primary care providers and specialists. Prior to the merger, The Doctors Clinic was the largest provider group in Kitsap County not affiliated with Harrison/CHI. This is just the latest in a number of moves by CHI to scoop up other provider groups: they’ve recently purchased radiology groups and an orthopedic group in the last year or so.
This continues a trend in Washington State where the big fish eat the little ones. In King County, the two largest providers – the University of Washington and Providence/Swedish – are doing the same thing. In Pierce County, it is CHI Franciscan Health and Multicare. Peacehealth is both in the north in Bellingham, and the south in Vancouver.
It is unclear – and beyond the scope of this post – whether these mergers will result in better and safer care for patients. What is clear is that the trend is towards patients having less choice in which large entities from which to receive care.
For an article on the move from Bremerton to Silverdale, see here:
[Franciscan Health moves to close Harrison hospital in Bremerton](http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/franciscan-health-moves-to-close-harrison-hospital-in-bremerton/)
For a synopsis of the merger with The Doctors Clinic, see here:
[Doctors Clinic to merge with CHI Franciscan Health](http://www.kpbj.com/news/doctors-clinic-to-merge-with-chi-franciscan-health-3b61c52e-0817-6e6b-e053-0100007feedc-391897931.html)
