Duke University Health System, LifePoint Hospitals Partner on Community Hospitals

Duke University Health System Inc. (Durham, N.C.) and LifePoint Hospitals (Brentwood, Tenn.) have formed DLP Healthcare LLC (Duke/LifePoint), a joint venture designed to strengthen and improve healthcare delivery throughout North Carolina and the surrounding regions by creating flexible affiliation options for community hospitals. The unique joint venture combines LifePoint’s extensive operational resources and experience in successfully managing community-based hospitals with Duke’s renowned expertise and leadership in the development of clinical services and quality systems.

Duke/LifePoint is one of the first joint ventures between an academic health system and a hospital operations company. Its mission is to own and operate a system of highly functioning community hospitals. It will provide local hospitals with extensive clinical and operational support, quality measurement tools and resources to effectively grow and expand services to better serve their communities.

Maria Parham Medical Center, a private, non-profit, hospital located in Henderson, N.C., signed a memorandum of understanding with Duke/LifePoint which will make it the first hospital in the new Duke/LifePoint network. Maria Parham has served communities throughout north central North Carolina and southern Virginia for nearly 85 years. It has a team of more than 150 physicians and 700 clinical and support staff and offers a wide range of healthcare services.