KDH, Norton Healthcare Exploring Partnership

Given how greater access to healthcare benefits local communities, the Board wanted KDH to grow and thrive well into the future.

(Madison, Ind.) - On Monday, November 16, 2020, King’s Daughters’ Health, Madison, IN and Norton Healthcare, Louisville, KY signed a Letter of Intent enabling both healthcare systems an opportunity to explore the possibility of a partnership.

Under the Letter of Intent, King’s Daughters' Health (KDH) will continue its normal operations without any changes to its services or its physicians and employees. The Letter of Intent marks the beginning of a deeper partnership between King’s Daughters’ Health and Norton Healthcare as the two organizations currently enjoy an affiliation agreement for oncology (cancer) services with Norton Cancer Institute at KDH’s Cancer Treatment Center in Madison.

Annie Schroeder, KDH Board Chairman and Bethany Circle President, said both the Board and Bethany members believe sharing additional resources and expertise between KDH and Norton Healthcare will benefit patients, physicians, team members and the community. The Letter of Intent provides the framework for KDH and Norton Healthcare to begin working on a definitive agreement.

“The founding members of The Bethany Circle of King’s Daughters’ opened The King’s Daughters’ Hospital because they recognized the need for local families to have access to health services,” Schroeder said. “For more than 120 years, we have continued that mission. Today’s announcement provides us an opportunity to ensure that KDH will remain an integral part of the community for another century.”

In advance of this decision, the KDH Board of Managers spent several years studying the complex and ever-changing landscape of healthcare. As part of the evaluation process, the KDH Board of Managers secured Kaufman Hall, a nationally known company that helps organizations seek and explore partnership opportunities. Given how greater access to healthcare benefits local communities, the Board wanted KDH to grow and thrive well into the future.

“King’s Daughters’ commitment to quality, their talented providers and employees who support them, as well as their deep connections to community have long been impressive to us,” said Russell F. Cox, president and CEO, Norton Healthcare. “We are honored to partner with King’s Daughters’ to ensure exceptional care close to home and increased access to specialty care as needed. We share similar cultures as proven community leaders with a deep commitment to our employees, to our patients and their families and to the communities we are honored to serve. We look forward to working together.”