Spectrum Health aims to corner cardiac care market, create health care ‘destination’

Billions of dollars in health care development have created new opportunities for hospitals and physicians alike, but now that the region’s largest employer is proposing a new cardiac subsidiary some local health officials have raised concerns about a monopoly.

According to excerpts from the story:

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health is talking with most of the area's heart doctors about joining a new subsidiary, a move causing angst among some physicians and officials at other hospitals that it could corner the cardiac care market.

"They (Spectrum) are in a position potentially to hire every cardiologist in the area," said Dr. David Blair, president of Advantage Health, a physician group partly owned by Saint Mary's Health Care. "This really puts institutions like Saint Mary's and Metro" -- the area's second and third largest hospitals -- "in a very difficult spot."

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