The Tri-City Healthcare District will partner with UC San Diego Health for management services after a unanimous vote of the district’s Board of Directors on Thursday, Oct. 26, the two providers announced.
The decision came in the wake of financial and staffing challenges for the public health district, which covers Vista, Oceanside and Carlsbad. Back in July, the district’s board voted to suspend Tri-City Medical Center’s labor and delivery unit, citing financial concerns.
“UC San Diego Health’s proposal envisions a collaborative framework where they would actively manage the operational and administrative aspects of TCMC (Tri-City Medical Center), including clinical, financial, and strategic functions, as well as taking responsibility for the healthcare facility, encompassing the buildings, equipment, and operations,” Dr. Gene Ma, Tri-City Medical Center’s interim president and CEO, said in an Oct. 27 announcement. “As a result, this approach aims to modernize and enhance our healthcare services, and will create a world-class healthcare destination here on our campus.”
The implementation of a joint powers agreement is the next step in the process, UC San Diego Health stated in its announcement.
“We are delighted that Tri-City has chosen UC San Diego Health as its strategic and operational partner in its efforts to revitalize its 60-plus year legacy as an award-winning community hospital,” UC San Diego Health CEO Patty Maysent said in the announcement. “We recognize that the Board and Tri-City’s team of physicians, nurses and staff care deeply about delivering care close to home — and UC San Diego Health shares this vision. We look forward to collaborating with the Tri-City team to stabilize, expand and transform access to the hospitals’ services and facilities so that all patients throughout North County can continue to access high-quality care, locally.”
The UC San Diego Health proposal calls for the academic medical center to assume the rights and title to Tri-City district-owned assets in addition to health care service operations, according to UCSD’s announcement. Oversight would be in the form of a nine-member community board.
The Tri-City Healthcare District was formed by voter approval in 1961 when medical services were sparse in what was then a more rural area. As the hospital grew, it was renamed Tri-City Medical Center in 1985.
In addition to the main medical center in Vista, Tri-City also operates community outpatient services and the Tri-City Health and Wellness Complex in Carlsbad.