TOCCOA, Ga. – Toccoa Clinic Medical Associates (The Toccoa Clinic) has extended its letter of intent (LOI) with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) to continue exploring opportunities for formal alignment.
NGPG is the multi-specialty physicians group of Northeast Georgia Health System – the parent organization of Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC), with campuses in Gainesville and Braselton.
“We still believe it to be in the best interest of both groups to explore a potential partnership as the healthcare landscape continues to change across the region, state and nation,” says David Yates, MD, president of The Toccoa Clinic. “Healthcare is a personalized service that greatly improves when providers collaborate and coordinate across the entire spectrum of the patient experience. Being aligned with a strong regional partner is a natural evolution of that collaborative spirit, and it puts us in better position to focus on quality as we care for people close to home.”
“We already share care of mutual patients in the region, mutual goals of providing high quality care that’s easy to access and a mutual history of serving this region,” adds Antonio Rios, MD, chief physician executive of NGPG. “It makes sense to continue investigating ways to combine our regional strengths and better position each of us for success.”
The letter of intent provides a controlled framework to perform due diligence and identify opportunities to improve clinical coordination and efficiencies between the two organizations during the next several months. A target timeframe for alignment between the two organizations is fall 2016.
“We are pleased to continue exploring a potential partnership with NGPG and more formal affiliation with NGHS,” says Yates. “We are excited about what the future may hold for both organizations, our community and the people we serve.”
