MARQUETTE -- Three Upper Peninsula hospitals, along with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, joined the Superior Health Partnership. The reason: improving healthcare in Upper Michigan. The new hospitals include Portage Health of Hancock, Baraga County Memorial, and Dickinson County Healthcare System.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield entered into the new network due to the high cost of patients leaving the U.P. for medical care out of state and below the bridge.
The hospitals involved say they joined the partnership because it will help U.P. residents receive accessible, quality care instead of leaving the area for treatment.
"Independent organizations, as these all are, to actually work, not independently but like an integrated health care system, to be able to to share health care information, and to work with third party payers...I actually think it's a huge advantage for the whole region," said Baraga County Memorial CEO, Tim Zwickey.
Each organization says they'll remain independent and that their involvement with the partnership will simply strengthen their ability to treat their patients.
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