Group Health signs Valley deal

Group Health Cooperative members will be able to receive inpatient care at Valley Hospital and Medical Center beginning next month.

Lloyd Guthrie, Group Health’s district administrator, announced the organization has a new working relationship with Valley designed to better serve its 15,000 Spokane Valley patients.

“We recognized that the Valley is growing and that it has evolved as its own community where people want services closer to home,” he said.

The decision was good news for Empire Heath Services, which hadn’t been part of Group Health’s network of providers.

“We’re just delighted by this,” said spokeswoman Janice Marich. Empire Health Services, which also operates Deaconess Medical Center, has retooled Valley Hospital into a primary care hospital. The facility is an important part of Empire’s strategy to boost revenues and better compete for Inland Northwest patients.

As part of its broader services initiative, Group Health also announced it had reached an agreement with Albertson’s supermarkets for pharmacy services.

Guthrie said the 10 Albertson pharmacies in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area offer more convenience.

Across the region, Group Health has about 80,000 enrolled members, making it one of the dominant health care players here, along with insurance provider Premera Blue Cross.

Group Health is a nonprofit health care system based in Seattle that’s governed by its members. Across the state, Group Health has about 540,000 members.

Group Health patients can still receive hospital care at four other regional medical centers: Sacred Heart Medical Center, Kootenai Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital and Deer Park Hospital.

It also operates five area clinics.