UVA Health on Tuesday announced a partnership with Riverside Health System, the latest move in the academic health system’s effort to form a statewide network.
Charlottesville, Virginia-based UVA Health will acquire a 5% ownership stake in Virginia-based Newport News, Riverside, which operates four acute care hospitals and one behavioral health hospital, as well as one physical rehabilitation hospital and a critical illness rehabilitation hospital in partnership with Select Medical.
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The tie-up will expand UVA Health’s referral network to eastern Virginia, while Riverside will receive financial and medical resources from UVA Health. UVA Health CEO Craig Kent said in an interview Riverside will also develop graduate medical training programs, particularly in internal medicine.
UVA Health will help develop a clinical trial unit in eastern Virginia to increase access to new treatments, he said, and an academic health system that will help Riverside doctors deliver services. more complex care in the area. He did not provide specific details about the financial sources provided.
“UVA Health has some pretty strong tertiary and quaternary programs in cardiovascular, cardiothoracic, transplant, neurology and oncology care, and our partnership with Riverside will create opportunities for patients. access to that level of care,” says Kent. “We will be able to do some of the care locally in Riverside, with very complex cases referred to UVA Health.”
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The partnership builds on an existing relationship between the two health systems that began in 2005 with the launch of a stereotactic radiosurgery center in Newport News. Under the agreement, UVA Health and Riverside will retain their current administrative and management structures.
UVA Health, a roughly $4 billion health system with four acute care hospitals, has expanded its acute care network beyond its central Virginia headquarters since 2021, when they acquired Novant Health’s ownership stake in a three-hospital joint venture primarily covering northeastern Virginia. Since then, the academic health system has developed clinical links with Lynchburg, Virginia-based Centra Health and Roanoke, Virginia-based Carilion Clinic, both of which introduce complex care. complex for UVA Health professionals.
“UVA Health is excited about having a statewide reach and potentially a multi-state reach,” said Kent, adding that UVA Health is in discussions with stakeholders. held in Virginia and beyond. “With this relationship, we are truly statewide.”
