photo by: Contributed

LMH Health's main campus at 325 Maine St.

Lawrence’s largest health care organization soon will start playing a bigger role in providing medical services in Emporia.

LMH Health announced on Wednesday that it is joining forces with the University of Kansas Health System to serve as new medical partners with the nonprofit Newman Regional Health, which operates the lone hospital in Emporia.

The partnership — which does not involve either LMH or KU Health taking any ownership in the Emporia hospital — is set to begin Feb. 1. The partnership has been structured as an affiliation agreement, which will provide a means for LMH and KU to provide specialty services and other support at Newman Regional. LMH and KU already have an affiliation agreement, which has allowed LMH patients to receive some services from KU physicians while still remaining at the Lawrence hospital.

Financial terms of the arrangement were not announced in the press release from the three entities on Wednesday. Instead, the release said details about what services may be offered through the partnership were still being developed.

LMH Health already has been offering some services in Emporia, which is about 80 miles southwest of Lawrence. OrthoKansas, which is owned by LMH Health, currently provides sports medicine services and other orthopedic care in the Emporia market.

LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson said the decision to create an expanded partnership with Newman Regional made sense on multiple levels, including that the deal promotes the value of independently owned hospitals that are based in the communities they serve. LMH Health’s board has stated that it is important for Lawrence Memorial Hospital to remain locally owned rather than being bought by a larger chain. This agreement in Emporia will help promote that type of independence there, leaders said.

“Our regional efforts have been focused on helping independent hospitals remain strong in their local communities,” Johnson said. “LMH Health’s long history of collaboration with Newman Regional through OrthoKansas is a great example of how an expanded affiliation can benefit patients. Much like LMH Health’s strategic clinical agreement with The University of Kansas Health System, this new agreement will support delivery of care close to home and allow for streamlined coordination when patients require care outside of Emporia. Most importantly, this affiliation supports independence, allowing healthcare decisions to be made closest to home, for the benefit of our patients, physicians, and communities we serve.”

In terms of what types of services the partnership may bring to Emporia, Bob Page, president and CEO of the University of Kansas Health System, said KU would be open to a broad range of possibilities, “routine to the most complex.” The KU system, which is connected to the University of Kansas school of medicine in Kansas City, Kan., is home to the region’s only National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, and it also has some of the more advanced brain and heart programs in the region.

The board of trustees for Newman Regional Health approved the affiliation agreement on Wednesday, according to the release.

“We are grateful to align with the esteemed organizations: The University of Kansas Health System and LMH Health,” NRH’s board chair, Nancy Wells, said in the release. “This affiliation will pave a new road for healthcare that will allow us to better serve our community while strengthening our position for the future.”