photo by: Contributed

LMH Health's main campus at 325 Maine St.

LMH Health has become one of five Kansas health systems joining together to form a new regional healthcare alliance designed to improve patient care and create more affordable healthcare options for communties.

The healthcare collaboration was dubbed Astra Health, and it includes LMH Health, Amberwell Health, Salina Regional Health Center, Newman Regional Health and The University of Kansas Health System. The partnership is aiming to improve clinical outcomes, strengthen access to care and deliver more affordable healthcare options for people living in Kansas, according to a press release from LMH Health.

According to the release, Astra Health will preserve “local healthcare and local system independence, while leveraging shared resources that no individual organization could efficiently develop on its own.”

“Healthcare is changing rapidly, and no organization can solve today’s challenges alone,” Shelly Kortkamp, president and CEO of LMH Health, said in the release. “Astra Health allows independent health systems to collaborate in ways that improve quality, expand access to specialty expertise, reduce unnecessary costs, and keep care in the communities we proudly serve.”

According to the release, Astra Health will work to:

• Make it easier for patients in communities to access specialists and advanced care.

• Allow patients to receive more of their treatment in their own communities rather than traveling elsewhere.

• Share clinical knowledge, data and strategies for improving care.

• Reduce healthcare costs by coordinating services.

• Create healthcare plans that employers can offer directly to their workers, potentially at lower costs.

“We are excited about this partnership and what it will mean for our communities, and we look forward to sharing more information in the months ahead,” Kortkamp said in the release.