Wexner Medical Center and Mercy Health have formed a Healthy State Alliance in an effort to address Ohio’s health needs and improving the health in communities. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Managing Editor for Design

Wexner Medical Center and Mercy Health, a Catholic health ministry serving Ohio and Kentucky, have formed a Healthy State Alliance in an effort to address Ohio’s health needs and improving the health in communities, according to an Ohio State news release.

The Alliance was created to leverage their respective strengths in order to expand access to care and to improve the health of those they serve, according to the release. Mercy Health’s headquarters is located in Cincinnati.

“With this new partnership, we are determined to create healthier communities throughout the state of Ohio and across the region,” David McQuaid, chief executive office of The Ohio State University Health System, said in the news release. “Through the Healthy State Alliance, we are uniquely positioned for success based on our shared vision of convenient access to differentiated clinical care across the state.”

According to the release, the Healthy State Alliance identified 10 objectives based on what they determined to be pressing health care needs in Ohio with a focus on three objectives in particular, which include addressing the opioid epidemic and increasing access to cancer and transplant care.

“Together, we can work in new and creative ways that haven’t been done before,” John M. Starcher, Jr., president and CEO, Bon Secours Mercy Health, said in the release. “We will be nimble, share our best thinking and collaborate among our care providers much faster than we could by working alone.”

The Alliance also aims to give increased access to medical and graduate education, and training for the organization’s’ employees and physicians.