McKenzie Health Systems separates from UHP Alliance

Sanilac County, Mich. – The United Healthcare Partners (UHP) governing Board of Directors has announced that due to governance and strategic differences, McKenzie Health System’s request to be terminated from UHP was approved. This decision was reached after a great deal of thought and discussion, and was supported by the majority of the UHP board on Tuesday, October 9th.

The original UHP affiliation, which started in 2013 between Marlette Regional Hospital (MRH) and McKenzie Health System (MHS), aimed to provide patients with access to more services, medical staff and resources while maximizing efficiency through collaboration.

Both Deckerville Community Hospital (DCH), which recently joined the affiliation, and MRH will continue as affiliates of UHP. This vision for bringing quality health care services to residents of Sanilac County and the greater Thumb Region will continue into the future.

“The decision was an unfortunate one in light of the successes that came out of our partnership with McKenzie,” said Dan Babcock, CEO of MRH. “But differences in governance and leadership styles arose that outweighed the benefits of continuing our affiliation.”

Steve Barnett, McKenzie President and CEO shared, “McKenzie remains committed to providing quality healthcare to the community and will continue to work with Deckerville Community Hospital, Marlette Regional Hospital and other organizations that share the mission of rural healthcare.”

“The timing of this was unfortunate as we (Deckerville) just joined United Healthcare Partners,” commented Angela McConnachie, CEO/CNO of Deckerville, “but we still feel confident in our decision to move forward with Marlette in this partnership. We stand to gain more for our communities by working together than we do continuing on our own.”