Joint Venture

Trinity Health and University of Michigan Health have formed a joint venture of Chelsea Hospital. University of Michigan Health holds 49 percent interest in Chelsea Hospital and Trinity Health retains a majority 51 percent interest.

Both organizations share a common goal – to improve the health and well-being of people in the greater Chelsea community. We intend to develop a sustainable care delivery model that strengthens patient services well into the future.

University of Michigan Health and Trinity Health provide additional specialized surgery programs and other inpatient services at Chelsea Hospital. Since the joint venture launch in 2018, new endourology, urology, gynecology, colorectal and general surgical procedures have been brought to Chelsea. In addition, the joint venture partners hav expanded inpatient rehabilitation and other inpatient services. Offering these services at Chelsea Hospital expands access to high quality care closer to home for people who live in the greater Chelsea area. This also helps patients avoid long wait times for some care currently performed in Ann Arbor.

Chelsea Hospital continues to be a community-focused hospital providing ambulatory and inpatient care. Highly specialized and tertiary care will not be done at Chelsea Hospital. Our physicians will refer patients to an appropriate location as close as possible.

Michigan Medicine physicians have been working at Chelsea Hospital since 1978 as part of the family medicine residency clinic and inpatient service located on campus. They also see patients through affiliated programs. This joint venture enables more Michigan Medicine physicians to provide services at Chelsea Hospital as new programs are developed.

Trinity Health and Michigan Medicine have relationships with many of the same providers and accept many of the same insurances. Because Trinity Health is the managing partner of this joint venture, Chelsea Hospital continues to contract with payers on behalf of the new venture. A thorough process has been developed to evaluate insurance coverage upfront and inform patients in the rare occurrence insurance coverage is impacted.

The joint venture does not impact the current billing process. In the same way patients have been billed in the past at Chelsea Hospital, a patient may receive a bill from Trinity Health for the services provided at Chelsea Hospital. Any physician charges associated with that care often appear on a separate statement. Under the joint venture, patients may receive a statement from Trinity Health for the services and a statement from Michigan Medicine for the physician’s care. This process is the same for any service or physician at Chelsea Hospital.

Chelsea Hospital retains its Catholic identity and continues to follow its core values and mission to “serve together in the spirit of the Gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities.” The hospital continues to be invested in the community through its various community benefit programs that provide treatment or promote health and healing as a response to identified needs. In addition, Chelsea Hospital abides by the Ethical and Religious Directives of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops.

The name is Chelsea Hospital.

In many ways, the Michigan Medicine physicians and programs have been part of Chelsea Hospital’s staff and caring culture for decades. The joint venture solidifies our existing relationships and expands our capabilities to do more, together, to improve the health of our communities.

The valued physicians, nurses, clinicians and staff of Chelsea Hospital will continue to be employed in their current positions by Trinity Health. Michigan Medicine will introduce new physicians and fellows, as well as residents through its long-standing family medicine residency clinic.

Continuity of care and patient safety is of great importance to Trinity Health and Michigan Medicine. While we do not share the same IT platform, our long-standing collaborations have led us to develop ways for our medical staff to locate and share patient information within each IT platform, including visit and discharge summaries. In addition, patients may link their MyChart accounts to have easy access to their records from a Trinity Health or Michigan Medicine location.

Patient portals allow easy access to key health information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients may need to access both the Trinity Health and Michigan Medicine patient portals. The Trinity Health patient portal allows individuals to review records from Trinity Health hospitals, including Chelsea Hospital. This information may include inpatient hospital stays, surgery summary, labs, radiology results or discharge instructions. Patients who have a Michigan Medicine physician will access records of care provided by the physician and services outside of Chelsea Hospital from the Michigan Medicine patient portal. Patients may also have access to additional patient portals for other physicians they receive care from.

Yes. All gifts to Trinity Health for the benefit of Chelsea Hospital will be used for the hospital’s facilities, equipment and services.

All physicians who are credentialed and affiliated with Chelsea Hospital are listed on the hospital’s Find a Physician page. Search for the type of physician you are looking for, such as general surgery or family medicine. The results will include all physicians with that specialty and the name of their practice. You may also obtain a physician referral by calling 800-231-2211.