Guthrie County Hospital

Guthrie County Hospital partners with UnityPoint Health-Des Moines through both a management agreement and a Critical Access Hospital Network agreement. Guthrie County Hospital has had a standing affiliation with UnityPoint Health-DesMoines (formerly known as Iowa Health Des Moines) for the last 12 years when the Critical Access Hospital Network agreement was made. As of January 1, 2014, GCH enhanced the affiliation to also include the management agreement.

This affiliation enables the hospital to retain its governance structure while taking advantage of greater system-wide resources, clinical platforms, best practices and many other advantages which will benefit the people in the communities we serve. Guthrie County Hospital remains locally governed by a board of trustees. The CEO is employed by UnityPoint Health-Des Moines, while key administration positions are still employed by Guthrie County Hospital to oversee the day-to-day operations of the hospital and its employees.

In addition, this affiliation affords Guthrie County Hospital the management expertise and educational offerings of a larger organization that would not otherwise be readily available to a county hospital. The management agreement and Critical Access Hospital network agreement with UnityPoint Health-DesMoines makes the hospital a vital member of Iowa’s largest healthcare provider network.

UnityPoint Health successfully operates a decentralized governance model with emphasis on physician-driven, patient-centric care. This model allows its affiliates to maintain local autonomy in all significant areas where local control provides the highest quality, most cost-effective service to patients and  their families.

About UnityPoint Health-Des Moines

UnityPoint Health-Des Moines includes Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Methodist West Hospital, Blank Children’s Hospital, and John Stoddard Cancer Center and more than 50 primary care clinics throughout central Iowa.UnityPoint Health averages more than 32,600 inpatient admissions and 1,041,000 outpatient visits each year. For more information, visit www.unitypoint.org.