UNITY FOR SUCCESS
Waco-area residents have access to more
specialty care closer to home
Scott & White Healthcare’s new partnership with Hillcrest Health System (HHS)
means that people in McLennan County will have easier access to innovative healthcare
treatment options. The hospitals have agreed to co-manage the new 237-bed Hillcrest
Baptist Medical Center (HBMC) and the existing Hillcrest Herring Avenue campus and
look forward to a united effort to help patients.
“S
cott & White is committed to
supporting Hillcrest Baptist
Medical Center in ways that will
continue to improve the lives of Central
Texans by providing the right care, at the
right place,” says Alfred B. Knight, MD,
president and CEO of Scott & White
Healthcare. “Our goal is to continue to
develop the medical center as a regional
referral center and forge an even closer
collaboration with this community’s
physicians. We are supporting our new
partner with resources to enhance the high
quality of care they’ve been providing to
the area for almost 90 years.”
Administrators of both hospital systems
believe that the merger will provide
substantial benefits for patients. “We’ll be
able to increase access for both the hospital
and physicians to resources that will
enhance the high quality of care our
community has always enjoyed, while
maintaining the advantages of a well-run,
locally governed healthcare institution. The
partnership between the two hospitals will
be seamless,” says Michael Reitmeier,
chairman of HHS and the Hillcrest Baptist
Medical Center Board of Directors. “Our
Scott & White friends understand the role
Hillcrest has played and will continue to
play in the community.”
The partnership will be essentially
seamless because patients’ relationships with
their physicians won’t change, nor will the
strong Baptist faith identity of the Hillcrest
Health System. The partnership with Scott
& White means that the more than 10
percent of county residents who currently
travel beyond the area for specialty care can
now find the care that they need nearby.
Another benefit for Waco-area patients
is that they will eventually be able to
participate in research initiatives to improve
treatment for many medical conditions.
Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center is
governed by a 12-member board, with six
members appointed from each system. The
existing Hillcrest Herring Avenue campus
continues to house rehabilitative services,
outpatient radiation services and is a skilled
nursing facility.
“We are looking forward to what the
future holds, including the opportunity to
bring a variety of innovative treatments and
technologies to the greater McLennan
County area,” says Glenn Robinson,
president and CEO of HBMC. ■
The new Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center opened in April 2009.
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