Press Releases: Northwest
September 6 , 2007
Kaiser Permanente and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Announce Contract to Continue Hospital Care for Westside Residents
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kaiser Permanente and Providence Health & Services – Oregon Region have reached an agreement to extend their current contract for five years, through 2012. Under the contract, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (PSVMC) will continue providing emergency care, general medical and surgical care, and inpatient behavioral health to Kaiser Permanente members living on Portland's west side and in Washington County.
Kaiser Permanente members on the west side will also continue to be able to give birth at PSVMC. More than 1,500 infants a year are born at PSVMC to Kaiser Permanente members.
Kaiser Permanente physicians will also continue to deliver the babies of its members with high-risk pregnancies at PSVMC and treat premature infants in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). PSVMC and Kaiser Permanente came together to create that NICU a decade ago.
Kaiser Permanente intends at some point during the contract period to transition most non-emergency inpatient cardiac care from PSVMC to a new heart center at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas. Some diagnostic outpatient and emergency heart services for Kaiser Permanente's west side members will remain at PSVMC.
Of the 475,000 people who have health insurance through Kaiser Permanente, more than 75,000 live in Washington County. Earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente secured a certificate of need from the State of Oregon that allows it to build a hospital in the Tanasbourne area of Hillsboro, but no date has been set for construction to begin.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, the organization serves the health needs of more than 8.7 million people nationwide. More than 475,000 people in Oregon and Southwest Washington receive their health care from Kaiser Permanente.For more information, visit Kaiser Permanente's website at www.kp.org.
About Providence Health & Services – Oregon Region
Providence Health & Services - Oregon Region, ranked as the sixth most integrated health care
system in the nation, offers a comprehensive array of health and education services through its seven hospitals, medical clinics, health plans, long-term care facilities and home health services. With more than 15,000 employees,
Providence is the state's second-largest private employer. Visit www.providence.org/oregon.
