April 15th, 2024 – 3:35 PM
-Staff reports –
It has been in the works for a year and a half, and on Monday, a merger between Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic was finalized following a Federal Trade Commission review.
According to a news release from Atrium Health Floyd:
Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic, the region’s two longest-serving healthcare providers, finalized a
long-anticipated strategic combination today, creating an integrated healthcare system.
Harbin Clinic is Georgia’s largest, privately-owned, multi-specialty physician group. Atrium Health Floyd is one of the largest providers of health care services in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. The two organizations will share governance and decision-making under the guidance of a board consisting of Harbin Clinic physicians and legacy board members of Floyd Healthcare Management Inc.
“Harbin Clinic has served northwest Georgia for more than 150 years, and Atrium Health Floyd has served the region for more than 80 years,” said Kurt Stuenkel, president of Atrium Health Floyd. “Over those decades, we have worked with one another to continuously improve care in our region. Together, our legacy organizations have likely touched every family in Rome and Floyd County, and many more in the surrounding communities where we serve.”
“We are incredibly excited to see what the future holds as we celebrate this combination, which marks a new chapter for Harbin Clinic and what’s possible for health care in our region,” said Kenna Stock, chief executive officer at Harbin Clinic. “Harbin Clinic has always been physician-led, and that will not change. Just as they always have, Harbin Clinic physicians will continue to have a voice in local healthcare decisions impacting the patients we serve. Alongside Atrium Health Floyd, Harbin Clinic will uphold our commitment to caring completely for our communities while ultimately enriching and extending the reputation of excellence we have worked to build for more than 150 years.”
“As Harbin Clinic joins Advocate Health, one of the country’s largest non-profit health systems, we remain deeply committed to preserving its unique community connection that both Harbin Clinic and Atrium Health Floyd are known for,” said Eugene A. Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health, of which Atrium Health is a part. “Being part of Advocate Health will pave the way to push the boundaries of clinical excellence and foster new innovations, building on the esteemed legacy of both Harbin Clinic and Atrium Health Floyd to usher in a new era in healthcare in Floyd County and the greater region.”
Atrium Health is a part of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health system, which has 68 hospitals and more than 155,000 teammates covering six states in the Midwest and Southeast.
According to the Rome News-Tribune:
There’ve been a number of concerns raised as part of the merger. Historically, Harbin’s specialty physicians have served both large area hospitals — Atrium and AdventHealth Redmond — and physicians, including many within Harbin’s own ranks, stated they felt that wouldn’t be the case after a merger.
Since the merger plans were announced, several now former Harbin doctors have split off and either entered employment with Advent Health Redmond or gone out on their own. Advent opened cardiology and neurosurgery clinics in 2023.
Stuenkel said the deal itself codifies that Harbin physicians will still be able to serve their patients in other hospitals.
“It’s fundamental to the deal that Harbin physicians will be able to continue to serve other hospitals,” Stuenkel said.
