Overlake and MultiCare Sign Affiliation Agreement

Agreement includes continued local governance and management, ongoing community commitment and significant capital investment in the region.

TACOMA, Wash., May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Overlake Medical Center & Clinics and MultiCare Health System announced today that they have signed an affiliation agreement emphasizing their joint long-term commitment to deliver the highest quality, most advanced health care to communities across Washington. Through this agreement, Overlake and its network of clinics will comprise the new North Sound region of MultiCare's statewide network and will be the North Sound region's flagship health system.

"Overlake and MultiCare have a shared commitment to transform health care in the region. This affiliation will enable both of our organizations to grow and thrive," said Jason Thompson, chair of Overlake Medical Center & Clinics Board of Trustees. "Overlake is an exceptional organization, and this affiliation will allow us to sustain and strengthen our 64-year commitment of providing care to our community."

Together, these two well-regarded health systems will work to expand local access to health care and invest in the communities they both serve. This affiliation will provide opportunities for Overlake and MultiCare to collaborate and integrate in ways that will best enable both organizations to respond to health care industry challenges and advance the quality of care they collectively provide. Commitments outlined in the agreement will create a combined strategic, financial, operational and clinical platform that will better position the organizations to achieve their goals.

Key details of the commitments include:

• Significant capital investment in the region: Overlake and its network of clinics will comprise the new North Sound region within MultiCare's statewide network, reflecting Overlake's expanding regional service area within King and Snohomish counties. The two organizations will invest significantly to meet the growing health care needs of the Eastside and North Sound communities. Together, the organizations will provide ever greater access to the excellent clinical care for which Overlake is known.
  
  
• Amplification of Overlake services: MultiCare has a shared interest in growing Overlake's services in the new North Sound region and maintaining their strong levels of clinical performance. Overlake will retain its name and logo as the two organizations work together to increase access to exceptional, compassionate health care.
  
  
• Local leadership, medical staff and foundation: Overlake's Board of Trustees, leadership team, medical staff structure and local Foundation will remain. Overlake will continue their unique local culture as a community institution, while drawing upon the strengths of the affiliation. Any gifts made to the Overlake Foundation will continue to support Overlake and the community it serves.
  
  
• Sharing of resources and expertise through measured integration: Overlake and MultiCare have opportunities to learn from one another to better serve the health care needs in the state of Washington.

"For more than six decades, Overlake Medical Center & Clinics has served the Eastside and Puget Sound communities, and I am confident that this is the right next step for our health system," said J. Michael Marsh, president and chief executive officer of Overlake Medical Center & Clinics. "In fact, one of our reasons for pursuing an affiliation with MultiCare was to ensure the ongoing fulfillment of our mission for decades to come. As we move forward, we will be led by our guiding principles that keep patient care and the local community at the forefront."

"MultiCare's mission is partnering for healing and a healthy future," said Bill Robertson, chief executive officer of MultiCare. "In Overlake, we have found a like-minded partner that shares our interests in advancing the health status of King County and beyond. We are excited for Overlake to join MultiCare's network of 12 hospitals and 300 clinics across the Pacific Northwest. We look forward to the future we will create together and look forward to welcoming them to the MultiCare family."  

This transaction is subject to routine regulatory approval as well as customary closing conditions with an anticipated closing date in the second half of 2024.

To learn more, patients and the community can visit OverlakeForward.org.

About Overlake Medical Center & Clinics
Overlake Medical Center & Clinics is a nonprofit regional health care system based in Bellevue, Wash., serving the Eastside community since 1960. The health system includes a 349-bed hospital and a growing network of primary, urgent and specialty care clinics located throughout the region. Overlake is recognized locally and nationally for quality and safety, including recurring Leapfrog A ratings, Healthgrades' Patient Safety Excellence Award and recognition as a Best Regional Hospital by US News & World Report in its Best Hospitals 2023-24 rankings. Overlake offers comprehensive advanced services, including a dedicated Cancer Center, Level lll Trauma Center, Childbirth Center and Level lll NICU, cardiac, neurosciences, orthopedic and mental health services. Employing more than 3,500 people, Overlake is dedicated to its mission of compassionate care for every life we touch. Overlake provided nearly $48 million in charity care over the past three years and is committed to providing exceptional patient care and services. For more information, visit overlakehospital.org.

About MultiCare Health System
MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization that's been caring for communities in Washington state since the founding of Tacoma's first hospital in 1882. With more than 23,000 team members, including employees, providers and volunteers, we've grown from a Tacoma-centric, hospital-based organization into one of the largest community-based, locally governed health systems in the state of Washington. Our comprehensive system of health serves patients across the Pacific Northwest and includes a dozen award-winning hospitals across the state of Washington, as well as numerous primary care, virtual care, urgent care, pediatric care and specialty services, including MultiCare Behavioral Health Network; MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care; Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Network (named a "Top Children's Hospital" five times by The Leapfrog Group, and home to the South Sound region's only Level IV NICU); Pulse Heart Institute; MultiCare Connected Care, our accountable care organization; and MultiCare Rockwood Clinic, the largest multispecialty clinic in the Inland Northwest region. MultiCare provided nearly $168 million in charity care over the past three years and is committed to our mission of partnering for healing and a healthy future.

Overlake Contact: MaryBeth Dagg, Director of Marketing, Communications & Community Engagement
p. 425-631-6611, [email protected]

MultiCare Contact: Lori Meyers, AVP, Corporate Communications
p. 206-915-7384, [email protected]

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SOURCE MultiCare Health System