acquired a majority stake<\/a> in Brookwood Baptist Health, another Alabama hospital, in 2024.<\/p>\n\u201cToday marks a defining moment for the City of Anniston and the future of healthcare in our region,\u201d Mayor Ciara Smith-Roston said. \u201cAfter months of intentional work behind the scenes, we are proud to announce the acquisition of Regional Medical Center by Orlando Health \u2014 a nationally recognized leader in healthcare and, quite frankly, one of the best systems in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith-Roston said the partnership is intended to strengthen healthcare in Anniston and throughout Northeast Alabama through investment, expanded services and access to the resources of a larger health system.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me be clear: this is not a small step. This is not a partial solution. And this is not a one-service expansion. This is a complete transformation,\u201d Smith-Roston said. \u201cWhile others may celebrate incremental additions to healthcare access, Anniston has secured a partner that is bringing a full system of excellence, raising the standard across the board, from emergency care to specialized services and long-term patient outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
City officials said the agreement comes as independent community hospitals face growing financial and operational pressures, particularly in rural areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthcare across rural America is changing, and independent community hospitals everywhere are facing increasing financial and operational challenges,\u201d Smith-Roston said. \u201cOur hospital has proudly served this region for generations, but sustaining healthcare today requires significant resources, investment, and the support of a larger healthcare network.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the hospital facility is owned by the City of Anniston, municipal leaders said the city has a responsibility to ensure the hospital remains sustainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital facility is owned by the City of Anniston, and with that ownership comes a responsibility,\u201d Smith-Roston said. \u201cOur role is to ensure that this community asset continues serving residents in the strongest and most sustainable way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, Regional Medical Center will become part of Orlando Health\u2019s Alabama Region. City officials said all current employees will transition to Orlando Health on day one, with existing titles, pay and years of service honored. Leaders also said the agreement includes long-term protections designed to help preserve Regional Medical Center\u2019s presence in Anniston.<\/p>\n
Orlando Health has indicated plans to invest significant resources in hospital facilities, equipment and technology, including implementation of an electronic health record system. City officials said those investments are expected to support physician recruitment, expand specialty services and improve access to care for patients throughout Northeast Alabama.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrong healthcare is essential not only to public health, but also to economic growth and community confidence,\u201d Smith-Roston said. \u201cThis partnership represents an exciting new chapter for healthcare in Anniston. Together, we are working to strengthen our hospital, expand opportunities for care, and ensure that our community continues to have access to the high-quality healthcare it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city, the Regional Medical Center Healthcare Authority and Orlando Health said they have committed to transparency throughout the process and that additional information will be shared publicly as it becomes available.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to welcome RMC\u2019s team members and physicians to Orlando Health,\u201d said David Strong, president and CEO, Orlando Health. \u201cTogether, we look forward to investing in excellent services that will benefit the region, partnering with physicians, purposefully growing and becoming the best place to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANNISTON, Ala. (WBMA) \u2014 A major change is coming to healthcare in Anniston after city leaders approved an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-222803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}