Norton Healthcare Partners with UK HealthCare

Lexington, KY-based UK HealthCare and Norton Healthcare, the Commonwealth's largest health system, have announced their intent to formalize a longstanding working relationship through an "alliance" to bolstering teaching and clinical programs.

Michael Karpf, MD, University of Kentucky executive vice president for health affairs, and Norton Healthcare President/CEO Stephen A. Williams say the goal of the alliance is to develop a statewide system of care.

"We are also focusing on developing stronger clinical partnerships throughout the Commonwealth. By working together our physicians and other healthcare professionals will provide a wider range of higher quality services more efficiently while also assuring immediate access to the best subspecialists in Kentucky," Karpf and Williams add.

The physician-leaders cite Kentucky's poor health rankings for both adults and children, particularly with cancer, heart disease, stroke/neuroscience, and diabetes, as reasons for forming the alliance.

Last summer, the University of Louisville/University Medical Center, Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare and Catholic Health Initiatives, announced that they too were exploring a formal partnership to improve healthcare in the Bluegrass State, citing many of the same reasons as UK HealthCare and Norton Healthcare.