(MSC News)--Hiawatha Community Hospital and Atchison-based Amberwell Health on Thursday announced an affiliation.
According to a joint news release, the affiliation “provides the opportunity to strengthen the future of healthcare in Northeast Kansas and surrounding areas, with the release noting that “within Amberwell Health, the affiliated organizations can share clinical service lines and operational infrastructures.”
A study, cited in the release, showed that nearly 30% of rural hospitals in Kansas are at high financial risk for closure, with both organizations, according to the release, realizing “the importance of affiliating with other rural healthcare facilities in order to maximize the ability to invest in providing more care and services as well as invest in people, equipment, and facilities that allow both organizations to evolve with the rapidly advancing healthcare field.”
The release notes that “affiliation between rural healthcare systems is still unique and rare across the country,” adding that the affiliation of the two “will protect local jobs and allow both organizations to retain their current governing and leadership structure, while focusing on strategic quality and growth in Northeast Kansas.”
Rebranding, and individual service lines at existing Hiawatha locations will begin evolving over what the release calls “the next few months,” with the two organizations working together “to serve patients and communities.”
MOST VIEWED STORIES
Charges filed against former Valley Falls Police Chief
Separate wrecks injure teens, dump truck driver
10-year-old St. Joseph child shot, hospitalized
Five injured, including two critically, in St. Joseph crash
Man missing from Jefferson Co found in OK
Holton Community Hospital asking for community support
Nemaha Co Administrator resigns
One injured, one arrested, after Atchison fight
Troy man convicted of sexual battery
Topeka woman arrested in Jackson Co on meth charge
Brown Co Commissioner plans to resign
A Saturday of celebrations planned in Atchison
Richardson County Fair royalty crowned
Flags fly in KS for political violence remembrance
Two local lakes added to public health advisory list
Pentagon funds test drilling at NioCorp mine site
Hiawatha City Commission adopts 2026 budget
LATEST STORIES
Man arrested after armed carjacking in St. Joseph
USD 430 board adopts 2025-26 budget
CHCS announces new transportation initiative
Brown Co Commissioner plans to resign
McLouth man injured in Leavenworth Co wreck
One injured in Saturday Buchanan Co, MO crash
Two local lakes added to public health advisory list
Senator Moran tours Kickapoo Nation School