Marin General Hospital and UCSF Health Form Strategic Alliance

By Kristen Bole

Marin General Hospital building.
Marin General Hospital. 

Marin General Hospital (MGH) and UCSF Health have formed a strategic alliance to expand clinical collaborations in Marin County, with the goal of improving patient care and strengthening physician practices for the local community. 

The strategic alliance will enhance both institutions’ long-term commitment to providing premier care in a healing environment, while maintaining each organization’s independence. As public, non-profit entities, MGH and UCSF Health share a core value and mission of offering high-quality care for the entire Marin community. 

According to Lee Domanico, Chief Executive Officer of Marin General Hospital, while mergers and acquisitions are a growing trend in healthcare, Marin General Hospital has been able to keep high-quality care local by forging strategic partnerships with physicians and other community healthcare providers.

“This strategic alliance with UCSF will allow us not only to remain independent, but also to be able to provide the North Bay community with rich access to a wide range of high-quality, specialized medical services right here in Marin County,” said Domanico. “With UCSF and our community partners, we will engage in multi-year planning to further enrich those services with new programs and technologies.”

The agreement is the highest level of integration to date between the two institutions and will provide a number of opportunities for collaborative projects well into the future, including new and expanded care sites with MGH and UCSF providers and specialists throughout Marin County. UCSF also will have the right to nominate two directors to the MGH board. 

“We have a long history of collaboration for specialty care with Marin General Hospital and I am so pleased we are now able to expand on that history of serving residents in Marin and throughout the North Bay,” said Mark Laret, President and CEO of UCSF Health. “This will make a tremendous difference for patients who need the specialty care of UCSF, but also want the convenience of seeing our specialists close to home.”

This alliance builds upon decades of collaboration between the two hospitals. Over the past seven years alone, MGH and UCSF Health have entered into four key relationships that have greatly benefitted our patients:

  1. Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals physicians provide support at the MGH NICU.
  2. Neurosurgery: UCSF’s Department of Neurosurgery provides trauma, inpatient and outpatient services at MGH. 
  3. Pediatric Care: MGH’s Braden Diabetes Center offers physician services for pediatric diabetes through the UCSF Madison Clinic. UCSF pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists perform procedures at MGH so pediatric patients and their families can stay close to home.
  4. Cardiac Surgery: UCSF’s Department of Cardiac Surgery provides MGH call coverage and elective services.

In addition, MGH and UCSF Health are both part of Canopy Health, a growing accountable care network that partners with insurance companies to bring greater and more affordable access to the Bay Area’s highest-quality physicians, hospitals and other providers, while enabling patients to receive in-network care close to home.

About Marin General Hospital: Marin General Hospital has been meeting the community’s healthcare needs since 1952. Many Marin County residents choose to live here because they appreciate the healthy lifestyle and transformative natural environment. In keeping with the values and needs of the community, Marin General Hospital is dedicated to treating the whole patient, mind, body and spirit. Their mission is to provide the people of Marin with the healing care they want and deserve. Marin General Hospital offers advanced medical expertise, technology, and treatments in an exceptionally healing environment. It also gives patients the opportunity to complement their medical treatment with integrative therapies at our Center for Integrative Health & Wellness. Together, Marin General Hospital care teams deliver award-winning services that are recognized by patients and their families, as well as by independent organizations who rank the hospital among the best. For more information, please visit https://www.maringeneral.org/about-us.

About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland, Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit www.ucsfhealth.org. Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on Twitter.