Mary Lanning Healthcare. The name seems to be everywhere.
Yes, MLH has grown in the past few years. But MLH is not the same as large for-profit companies coming in from outside of the region to buy up smaller entities.
In fact, you might be interested to know that the last time MLH actually purchased a clinic in Hastings was in 2011 when it bought Hastings Family Care.
However, MLH has expanded and opened some specialty clinics in order to attract and keep doctors in the community.
That’s because younger physicians want the support of a larger organization, sometimes so they don’t have to be on call 24/7; other times for financial support due to changes in government reimbursements.
Sounds a bit complex but the reality is that MLH is not out to put anyone out of business. In fact, it is here to support healthcare and all physicians in the community.
Those clinics in town that want to remain independent have done so. But MLH continues to help them when needed with recruitment efforts.
That’s right. At MLH, we do not see it as us against them. We just want to provide patients in the community with options. It’s not about who is getting paid for those options. It is about patients getting the good care they need, right here at home.
After all, doctors in independent clinics usually do work at the hospital in some way. Therefore, we work to make sure the clinics can provide a strong transition for docs entering the community. It is our goal for doctors to stay here if they can.
It also is good to know that MLH President & CEO Eric Barber has worked to make MLH a physician-driven organization. In other words, we want to know what physicians think.
One example of this is the hospitalist program at MLH. No, the hospitalist program was not created to keep providers from seeing their patients in the hospital.
MLH was actually the last hospital in the state to implement 24/7 hospitalists in its hospital. We waited because physicians in the community were not ready for it. However, as healthcare has changed, more and more physicians do not have the time to take call at the hospital. More and more of them were asking MLH to add hospitalists.
The MLH hospitalists are here to work with primary care physicians to make sure patients get the services they need. When a primary care provider is seeing patients in his or her clinic, they can rest assured that the hospitalist is taking care of their patient and sending updates when needed.
When you see the name Mary Lanning Healthcare, remember that we are here for you on a local level. We make our decisions locally. We are a non-profit organization. And we are here to serve you.