Columbia Memorial Hospital has reached a milestone in its partnership with Oregon Health & Science University.

On Thursday, the two partners formed CMH-OHSU Health, in which 28 providers in Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside transitioned to employment under OHSU. These providers, who were previously employed by Columbia Memorial Hospital, will continue seeing their same patients.

Seventeen OHSU employees were already working at the Astoria hospital, so now they will also work under the CMH-OHSU Health brand.

Erik Thorsen, the CEO of Columbia Memorial, said all those providers are now part of one system.

“We have common practices, it’s efficient and they have a common employer,” Thorsen said. “They’re now all connected to their respective department at OHSU.”

Nancee Long, the director of communications at Columbia Memorial, said the move also brings a higher level of care to the community now that the providers have access to resources at OHSU.

The relationship between the two health care organizations has expanded through the years. About 10 years ago, the Columbia Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees decided it wanted to partner with a larger institution and chose OHSU.

Thorsen described it as a unique partnership.

“It’s unique in the way we have been able to partner without merging, but yet growing our specialty care locally with a major academic university that has now improved access to care for our community,” Thorsen said. “It started with the (CMH-OHSU Knight Cancer Collaborative) and has grown through that 10-year period to this.”

Thorsen said the transition of the 28 providers was the final of three primary goals the collaboration set in 2019. The first was completed when OHSU physician James Heilman joined the CMH board in 2019, and the second happened on June 1 when the Astoria hospital hired Chris Strear as chief medical officer.

“That position is really set up to help be the liaison between the work we do here locally and the work at OHSU and trying to help us drive strategy,” Thorsen said.

Long said it’s important for patients to know that it’s a collaboration, not a transfer of ownership, so there won’t be any changes to billing or who their doctors are.

“A patient can now know that their provider has the full strength of OHSU behind them, insofar as education and collaboration, and it’s a great thing,” Long said.

While OHSU is the employer, Columbia Memorial remains independent and reimburses OHSU for the cost of the employment and is responsible for providing the space for clinic and support services.

The collaboration also brings the opportunity for specialists from OHSU, like vascular surgeon Robert McLafferty, to come to Columbia Memorial on a part-time basis, whereas without it the hospital would not be able to recruit a provider to the area for a part-time job.

Long said the providers continue to be part of the local community and the prestige of the new brand will help recruit staff.

“Economic development depends on bringing people here, building houses, having great health care, so I think we’re providing a way to really bring a much higher level of medicine to the area and keep them here,” Long said.