Edit: Make Way For Mayo

Jon Ness, chief executive officer of Kootenai Health, announces the hospital’s membership with Mayo Clinic Care Network. (Coeur d’Alene Press photo: Shawn Gust)

If Kootenai Health patients suddenly feel like they’re getting Mayo Clinic-quality care, there’s a good reason. It’s because they are. In a press conference Tuesday, Kootenai Health officials announced that the hospital is now one of just 30 national affiliates of the prestigious Mayo Clinic Care Network. That relationship does more than put a brighter shine on Kootenai Health’s reputation. “Kootenai Health will continue to be a locally owned community hospital; we’re proud of that designation,” said hospital CEO Jon Ness. “The purpose of this new arrangement is so we can provide advanced medical information and technology for our medical staff to allow patients to stay closer to home for health care at a lower cost.” … Kootenai Health became not just the first Mayo affiliate in Idaho, but the first in the Pacific Northwest/ Mike Patrick , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.

• Edit: Winning for the community /Coeur d’Alene Press
• What Kootenai Health-Mayo means to you, patients /Coeur d’Alene Press

Thoughts?