Trios hospitals now in-network for Group Health Access PPO patients

The two Trios Health hospitals will no longer be out-of-network for Group Health Access PPO patients.

As of Aug. 1, the Trios system is once again a preferred provider.

Trios Medical Group, which is the group of doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants employed by the Kennewick-based public hospital system, already was and will continue to be part of all Group Health networks, a Trios statement said.

But the two Trios hospitals were contractually excluded, a move that dates back to 2012.

The exclusion wasn’t Trios’ choice, and Trios officials are happy about the recent change, a statement said.

About 11,000 people in the Tri-Cities use Group Health Access PPO.

The two Trios hospitals are the Trios Southridge Hospital in the Southridge area of Kennewick and the Trios Women’s and Children’s Hospital in downtown.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Trios hospitals now in-network for Group Health Access PPO patients."