After 70 years, Trios has a new owner. You likely won’t notice the switch

After months of work — and a few days of delay in the homestretch — the sale of Trios Health to a private company became effective at 12:01 a.m. today.

RCCH HealthCare Partners, the buyer, made the announcement Friday afternoon. It will operate the Kennewick hospital system as part of a joint venture with UW Medicine.

For patients, it will mean no change in their care or billing, say officials.

“We are excited to bring this innovative partnership with UW Medicine as well as new, additional resources to this growing community,” Marty Rash, RCCH chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

“The employees and medical staff at Trios Health have certainly been through a challenging season, but it is clear from the continued support and trust in Trios that this community wants and needs this hospital. We look forward to being part of the next exciting chapter in the Trios Health story.”

Marv Kinney, president of the Trios board, said the sale means salvation for Trios.

“It means we were able to save the hospital and save jobs and have a quality provider that will make the hospital as strong as it’s ever been,” he said.

The Trios system, which dates to 1948 and now includes two hospitals and a network of clinics and services, has struggled financially for years and filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last summer.

The sale was a key part of Trios’ plan to regain solvency.

State regulators gave their approval to the sale last week after an expedited review. Trios and RCCH officials moved quickly to close the deal, but hit delays because of the complexity of the transaction.

Trios’ precarious financial situation ratcheted up the urgency; at one point, officials had projected that the hospital system would run out of money by the end of July.

The $78 million sale covers Trios’ operations and assets.

While the changeover means a heavy lift behind the scenes — switching charting systems, for example — patients won’t experience any kind of care interruption, officials said.

The change also won’t affect insurance coverage or rates, they said.

It will mean Trios goes from being a public hospital system to a private one.

However, a public arm will remain in the Kennewick Public Hospital District.

That entity, which used to govern Trios Health, will stay intact and continue to collect a modest property tax — this year it brought in $1.4 million. The money will go toward costs such as education efforts, indigent care and resolving future Medicare billing disputes.

RCCH has health care facilities in 12 states, including in the Northwest.

Its portfolio includes Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, Ore..; St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho; Community Medical Center in Missoula, Mont.; and Capital Medical Center in Olympia. The Olympia hospital also is part of RCCH-UW’s joint venture.

The partnership is “designed to provide select community hospitals and related health care services in Washington, Alaska and Idaho with the tools and resources that are necessary to support and enhance medical care in communities throughout the Pacific Northwest region,” a news release said.

“The new partnership and its hospitals will benefit from and leverage UW Medicine’s work to achieve the ‘Triple Aim’ of improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction), improving the health of populations and reducing the per capita cost of healthcare.”

Paul Ramsey, UW Medicine CEO, said his organization has worked closely with Trios “to ensure that patients in need of advanced specialty care have access to the services of UW Medicine” and “we are looking forward to continuing our work with the Tri-Cities community in partnership with RCCH.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 2:37 PM.