Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District Becomes Affiliate of Scripps Health Network

Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District is an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network. The announcement was made today at a ceremony at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley. This marks the first time a hospital has joined the Scripps network, and the first expansion of the network outside of San Diego County.

Pioneers and Scripps Health entered into a two-year agreement in October 2015, with the goal of Pioneers becoming an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network. Since then, the two organizations have worked toward providing increased value to patients through enhancing the quality of care and reducing costs.

“We are excited to have reached this milestone in our agreement with Scripps Health, which is helping us achieve our goal to be the premier provider of health care services in the Imperial Valley,” said Pioneers CEO Larry Lewis. “We have been working together during the past months to expand needed services for the Valley while improving the quality of the care we offer and now are taking the next step by becoming an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network.”

Effective today, Pioneers Memorial can refer to itself as an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network in its marketing materials.

“We are proud to have Pioneers as an affiliate of the Scripps Health Network,” said Chris Van Gorder, Scripps president and CEO. “We look forward to continuing our work together to further enhance the quality of health care offered in Imperial Valley.”

Under the terms of the October 2015 agreement, Pioneers runs as an independent hospital, and retains its name and current governance structure. The agreement includes Scripps providing Pioneers with leadership training and development, process improvements and other related services.

The October agreement was reached after discussions between Scripps and Pioneers that began in April 2015 upon Pioneer’s decision to pursue an affiliation with Scripps, which had responded to Pioneer’s Request for Information. The Request for Information was sent to several major acute care providers in San Diego seeking expressions of interest in affiliating with Pioneers. The Pioneers board determined that, as part of its strategic initiative to improve access to care for Imperial Valley residents, the best choice would be an affiliation relationship with Scripps.

Learn more about Scripps Health, a nonprofit integrated health system in San Diego, Calif.