Regional health care collaboration

Last week’s announcement of a marriage between hospitals in Greenville and Laurens will have zilch effect on Oconee County’s hospital, according to Jeanne Ward. At the request of 96.3/WGOG NEWS, Ward, OMC president/CEO, addressed the acquisition of the Laurens hospital by the Greenville Hospital System. Speaking before last night’s meeting of her board of directors, Ward ruled out any implications for Oconee Medical Center and declared it’s OMC’s hope to remain an independent community hospital. “We certainly have other larger organizations speak to us. We are always willing to talk to people just to hear what’s going on in the environment. But right now we collaborate with AnMed. We collaborate with GHS, and we’d like to leave it that way.” When asked if there were any take-over offers on the table, Ward said, “No, sir.”