Agrace Affiliates with UW Health and UnityPoint Health
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
On April 19, 2016, Agrace announced an exciting new affiliation with two major Madison-area health systems: UW Health and UnityPoint Health.
Here are highlights of the new partnership:
- The goal of this affiliation is to enhance each organization’s ability to effectively serve the end-of-life needs of people in southern Wisconsin.
- This affiliation will focus on improving patients’ care throughout their health care journey, which is clearly in keeping with Agrace’s mission and vision.Agrace’s expertise will help these health systems meet the needs of their patients, who increasingly want high-quality hospice care as an option at the end of life.
- Agrace’s patients will benefit from the increasing collaboration and the exchange of quality information between us and our two health system partners.UW Health and UnityPoint are committing to let Agrace lead the way in hospice and palliative care in the communities we serve by collaborating, rather than competing.
- Agrace remains 100% independent and nonprofit. We are not merging, being “bought” or otherwise becoming financially tied to our new partners.
- We maintain our current name, staff, volunteers and a community-based board.
- The Agrace Foundation will continue to serve only Agrace, and we will continue to rely on support from community donors.
- Agrace will continue to welcome patients referred by all area doctors and health systems, not just from our new affiliates.
- We continue to be a choice for everyone in southern Wisconsin who is struggling with serious illness, including patients from Dean clinics, St. Mary’s hospitals in Madison and Janesville, and St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo.
- UW Health and UnityPoint doctors can refer patients to other hospices, but only Agrace will collaborate with these health systems on a strategic level to
develop innovative ways to integrate palliative care and hospice into patient care.