The Board of Trustees and leadership team at Liberty Hospital have announced plans to evaluate health system partnership opportunities. The hospital will soon be reaching out to a select group of more than 30 local, regional and national health systems to begin discussions around common goals and a collaborative vision for growth.

The independent hospital enters this process from a position of financial and organizational strength, allowing it to explore all options to support expanding services to care for the growing Northland.

Nationwide, hospitals face sweeping movements toward outpatient services, value-based care, whole-person health and more. At the same time, the local communities that Liberty Hospital serves are growing quickly. According to the World Population Review, which analyzes state and U.S. Census data among other sources, nearby Platte County is Missouri’s fastest-growing county. Clay County, where Liberty Hospital is located, is the third fastest.

The future of healthcare involves becoming more connected, both to individual patients and to other providers and players across the full continuum of care.

“If we are to grow into our full potential as a premier provider of health and well-being in the Northland,” explains Raghu Adiga, MD, Liberty Hospital’s president and chief executive officer. “We owe it to our patients, employees and communities to understand whether we can best serve them by remaining independent, or by partnering with a larger health system.”

Dr. Adiga says he and his team expect to conclude the exploration process and reach a final decision sometime this fall. If that decision involves a new health system partner, the partnership could begin as early as next spring.

In the meantime, the hospital plans to post updates as the exploration reaches key milestones over the coming months.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story