Deckerville Community Hospital, Hills & Dales Healthcare and Marlette Regional Hospital have officially come together as Aspire Rural Health System.
While the names of the individual facilities will remain the same, the combined system will be known as Aspire Rural Health System – a name that reflects their aspiration to expand accessibility to quality rural healthcare.
“I am excited for what this means for the future of healthcare in The Thumb. I know that we are stronger together, and I look forward to all that we can achieve for our patients and communities through this combination,” said Angie McConnachie, CEO of United Healthcare Partners. “Ultimately, this is about keeping local healthcare local and improving care for generations to come.”
As Aspire Rural Health System, the organizations are committed to:
- Ensuring high-quality healthcare continues for all patients across The Thumb
- Maintaining and enhancing the immediate and long-term viability of the combined health system
- Updating and expanding our existing facilities and investing to build new ones
- Retaining our expert team of clinicians and recruiting additional providers to ensure high-quality care remains nearby
- Preserving our charitable, not-for-profit missions to serve, to continue offering charity care and services to all members of our community, including the underserved
- Broadening and deepening community support and engagement across The Thumb
“Angie and I are really excited for this new chapter. The name “Aspire” implies rising high, directing one’s hopes or ambitions toward achieving something greater than today – and that is exactly what this combination is about. We’re looking at local healthcare with a fresh lens and leveraging the smart and talented people we have together as one entity to do more for the communities we serve.” said Andy Daniels, President & CEO of Hills & Dales Healthcare.
In addition to the new name, the organizations have also chosen to have one unified Board of Trustees, with representatives from all organizations, as well as adopting a Co-CEO model that allows Andy Daniels and Angie McConnachie to jointly lead the combined system.
Going forward, both organizations will begin the integration process to fully become one unified health system. In the meantime, current daily operations are unchanged at the organizations, and patients should continue to visit their providers, clinics and facilities as they always have.
