Mackinac Straits Health System and MidMichigan Health Announce Affiliation

ST. IGNACE and MIDLAND, Mich. – Mackinac Straits Health System (MSHS) and MidMichigan Health jointly announced a formal affiliation between the two organizations that will address technology (IT) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) needs.

Karen Cheeseman, MSHS president and chief executive officer says the organization has identified a critical need for IT infrastructure and an EMR system to better serve patients. “This opportunity to align with MidMichigan and implement the EPIC software system will assist us in meeting our critical needs. We recognize that while we have many strengths, operating successful health systems in today’s environment requires more than we have available to us as a stand-alone health care organization. This affiliation will position us well for the future.”

Steve Autore, MSHS board chairman, says the organization has explored other affiliations in the past. He believes there is strong synergy, shared values and compelling reasons why both organizations should work together. “I feel we are very closely aligned with MidMichigan. For two organizations to work collaboratively requires an alignment with mission, vision and values. They believe in our mission of providing local access and quality healthcare to the families and communities we serve,” said Autore.

MidMichigan Health, headquartered in Midland, Michigan, is a six-hospital health system with Medical Centers located in Alpena, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Midland, Mt. Pleasant and West Branch. MidMichigan Health provides a full continuum of care across a wide array of settings, including urgent care centers, home health, virtual care, as well as medical offices in more than 30 specialties and subspecialties including cardiology, hematology/oncology, orthopedics, vascular surgery, family medicine and more. MidMichigan is affiliated with Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of University of Michigan.

According to Diane Postler-Slattery, Ph.D., FACHE, president and CEO of MidMichigan Health, “We too would benefit from an affiliation with MSHS. For organizations like ours to continue to be successful we must address size, scale and geographic footprint. We admire Mackinac Straits’ passion for excellence, their standards for service and their integrity. We both want a win-win out of this agreement.”