Camino Medical Group to Affiliate With Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Sutter Health.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--May 11, 2000

The Camino Medical Group (CMG), an established, successful multispecialty group practice based in Sunnyvale, will affiliate with the non-profit Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) to create one of the largest non-Kaiser multispecialty group practices in California, officials announced today.

PAMF is an affiliate of Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based health care network serving Northern California. The PAMF-Camino affiliation was approved today (Thursday, May 11) by the Sutter Health Board of Trustees -- capping more than a quarter century of occasional discussions between the PAMF and Camino physician groups.

PAMF has about 200 full-time-equivalent (FTE) physicians (members of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic partnership) and CMG has 153 FTE physicians.

Together with Santa Cruz Medical Clinic, which affiliated with PAMF in the mid-1990s, the three group practices will have approximately 420 physicians and will care for an estimated 400,000 patients, mostly from between San Jose and San Mateo and southern Alameda County in the East Bay.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to further our long-term commitment to provide high-quality health care for our patients," Richard Slavin, M.D., CEO of CMG said in a joint announcement with PAMF.

"We are similar organizations with similar cultures and high patient-satisfaction ratings," he added. "The potential is huge to develop new services for patients and explore economies of scale in this challenging economic environment in health care."

David Druker, M.D., President and CEO of PAMF, said the Camino affiliation will closely link the "two premier multispecialty group practices in the Midpeninsula to create the pre-eminent medical group practice in the state. It will significantly enhance our ability to provide community-based, quality care and health-promotion services.

"The many similarities between us, and our proximity, make this a natural fit -- and the time is right to do it now," Dr. Druker said.

He said the affiliation will benefit patients and the communities by further strengthening two already healthy organizations, enabling them to expand their community education and health promotion programs.

Lizz Vilardo, M.D., chair of the Board of CMG, said she sees the affiliation as "an exciting opportunity to expand our access to technology and our community services in a way that would not be feasible for us as an individual organization -- such as increased health promotion and education. Such areas will directly benefit patients and the community," she said.

Drs. Druker and Slavin emphasized that the linkage will be a true "affiliation," not a "merger," because the physician groups will each retain their own identity, but under the common umbrella of PAMF.

CMG will keep its name, but technically become the "Camino Division" of PAMF, a distinct operating unit similar to the affiliation arrangement of the Santa Cruz Medical Clinic and PAMF, Dr. Druker said. But because of the geographical closeness of CMG and PAMF, there will be far more operational linkages and joint-program opportunities that will benefit both organizations and increase services to patients, he said.

The Palo Alto Medical Clinic partnership, founded in 1930, contracts with the non-profit PAMF to provide physician services to the PAMF Health Care Division. CMG, founded in 1954, will have a parallel relationship to PAMF, he said.

Because PAMF is an affiliate (since 1993) of the Sutter Health system of hospitals and clinics, serving Northern California, CMG will also come under the non-profit Sutter network umbrella, through PAMF.

There will be no staff cutbacks or layoffs relating to the affiliation, both Drs. Slavin and Druker emphasized.

"Both organizations have been operating on a very efficient basis, and while we are committed to accomplishing the economies of scale necessary to make this work, we do not anticipate the need to make any cuts in staffing levels," Dr. Druker said.

"This has been a long-term vision of mine, and I'm absolutely delighted that we have been able to accomplish this affiliation," Dr. Druker said. "Both groups are known for their high quality of patient care -- enhancing that is a major part of our long-term vision."

He said there are many personal friendships between physicians in the two groups, and over many years the two groups have worked together in a number of areas, including the creation of the United Medical Clinics organization that later evolved into the TakeCare health plan (now PacifiCare).

CMG was originally known as the Sunnyvale Medical Clinic until it merged with El Camino Hospital in 1994. It remained the Camino Medical Group -- reflecting the larger service area -- after the partnership with the hospital dissolved in January 1997. The only business relationship with the hospital at present is the admission of patients, Dr. Slavin said.

Both CMG and PAMF have a number of satellite clinics and services in their respective service areas. Dr. Slavin, a chest and vascular surgeon, joined the Sunnyvale Medical Clinic in 1975 when it had 30 physicians, and served as chairman of its board of directors for 12 years. He was vice-chair of the Camino Health Care entity until it dissolved, and has been CEO of the Camino Medical Group since 1997.

Dr. Druker, a dermatologist, joined the Palo Alto Medical Clinic in 1975 when it had approximately 135 physicians. He served several years as chair of the Business Affairs Committee and was elected executive director of the Clinic partnership in 1989.

He was named chief operating officer of PAMF in 1994, assuming the operational responsibilities for PAMF's Health Care Division and some PAMF-wide duties. In late September, 1999, he was named PAMF president and CEO upon the retirement of Robert W. Jamplis, M.D. He also serves as Sutter Health vice president for the Penisula Coastal area.

NOTE: Photos of Dr. Druker and Dr. Slavin are available on request at 650/853-2965. They are available for Internet download at http://www.pamf.org/articles/druker.cfm. For further background on CMG or PAMF, visit their Web sites at www.caminomedicalgroup.com or www.pamf.org or call the PAMF Department of Public Affairs at 650/853-2965 for printed material.