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Henry Ford Health System has gained a hospital beachhead in lucrative Oakland County after years of searching.
An affiliation signed last month with St. Joseph Mercy-Oakland in Pontiac provides Henry Ford's 160 physicians in Oakland County with a place to admit their patients instead of having to send them to Ford's main campus in Detroit's New Center area or to nonaffiliated hospitals, said Linda Messina, administrator of Henry Ford's northwest region.
Henry Ford's health maintenance organization, Health Alliance Plan, has about 60,000 members in Oakland County. The agreement to develop a collaborative health care delivery with St. Joseph Mercy now gives those members a convenient location in Oakland County when hospitalization is required, she said.
Thomas Feurig, CEO of St. Joseph Mercy, said Oakland County residents and employers gain more flexibility in selecting their health care by having the resources of Henry...