Morton General Hospital and Clinics to Move Under Name ‘Arbor Health’ in 2019

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Arbor Health may very well be the new parent name for Morton General Hospital’s public hospital district and surrounding clinics next year.

Should the board of commissioners receive positive public feedback for the new parent name, Morton General Hospital, Randle Clinic, Riffe Medical Center and the specialty clinic at Morton General Hospital are all set to move under the parent name “Arbor Health” in 2019.

“It will still be a public health district,” said Roschelle Fritz, chair of the Lewis County Public Hospital District 1 board. “... The structure will all be the same. We will just add this parent name of Arbor Health.”

Fritz said patients will not notice a change in services after the name change.

“We hope people notice that when they call us we are speaking with one voice across the entire system,” Fritz said. “Regarding the quality of care, and the things that citizens are accustomed to, there will be no changes in service.”

Morton General Hospital is a public hospital district. The district owns Morton General Hospital, Randle Clinic and Riffe Medical Center in Mossyrock. Should the board receive positive feedback from the community, the new names will be Arbor Health Morton Hospital, Arbor Health Randle Clinic and Arbor Health Mossyrock Clinic.

“There (currently) is no tying logo or name that identifies us to the public as one system, which we really are,” Fritz said.

Fritz said that when she first joined the board in 2016, there was a new chief operating officer who held focus groups with different strategic planning meetings. The strategic plan set the direction for the hospital over the next five years.

“We held these focus groups and one of the main themes was that people wanted the hospital and clinics to speak with one voice,” said Fritz, noting that many people didn’t realize the clinics were also part of the public hospital district.



Fritz said the board currently intends to adopt the parent name in 2019, but will hold community open houses at the different clinics to receive public feedback.

“The 2019 time is not set in stone because we haven’t heard from the public yet in these open forums,” Fritz said.

Fritz noted that she has heard from many people that they want Morton General Hospital to remain a public hospital district.

“Our intent is to remain independent,” Fritz said. “I think having that organized outward front is important to maintain independence in today’s healthcare environment.”

Fritz said these changes are in response to increased regulations that require healthcare providers to be more transparent.

“I believe this came from major healthcare corporations buying smaller practices,” Fritz said. “The government essentially said ‘you have to state who you are.’”

The hospital district is hosting two more community receptions and opportunities for the board of commissioners to talk to and hear from community members regarding the parent name. They will all take place from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on select Sunday afternoons in November.