Brazosport Regional Health System and St. Luke's Health Sign Agreement for BRHS to Join St. Luke's

Brazosport Regional Health System (BRHS) and St. Luke’s Health (St. Luke’s) have signed an affiliation agreement for BRHS to become part of St. Luke’s.  The agreement was signed Jan. 25 with an effective date of Feb. 1.   

“CHI St. Luke’s is excited to welcome Brazosport Regional to our system. I’m pleased to announce that Al Guevara will continue to lead BRHS,” said Michael H. Covert, president and CEO of St. Luke’s Health.  In addition to having similar missions and values, our systems share a common vision of clinical and operational excellence and a firm commitment to lead the way in a new health care environment that focuses on value-driven, quality care.

“Working together, we will enhance services and expand access to care for Lake Jackson area residents, who also will benefit from our partnerships with the Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Heart^® Institute,” Covert added.

“We are very pleased to be able to join forces with St. Luke’s Health,” said Al Guevara, Jr., president and CEO of BRHS.  “From our founding in 1961 as Community Hospital of Brazosport, we have served the Brazosport community with quality services, close to home, in fulfillment of our mission of Healthcare with Excellence and Compassion.  We look forward to this new relationship with St. Luke’s Health – a partnership that will enable us to strengthen our existing services, while also giving us the opportunity to enhance our quality, effectiveness, safety and efficiency.  With this new alignment, we will be able to better meet the needs and expectations of our community locally, and in addition, add an entirely new dimension of access to tertiary and quaternary services that this alignment will provide.  We look forward to taking BRHS to the next level – from a stand-alone community hospital, to being a part of a top quality regional/national health care system.”

Being part of larger regional and national systems like St. Luke’s Health and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) is vital to the future success of health care organizations. BRHS and St. Luke’s recognize that changes in the national health care landscape present challenges to a stand-alone heath care system. As a result, BRHS is transitioning to become part of St. Luke’s Health.

The addition of BRHS to CHI’s Texas division – under the leadership of St. Luke’s Health – honors the organization’s deeply held commitment to build strong relationships of lasting value to better serve the people of Lake Jackson and the greater Houston metropolitan area, as well as people of Central and East Texas at St. Joseph Health in Bryan-College Station and St. Luke’s Health Memorial in Lufkin.

Two years ago, CHI formed an academic affiliation agreement between CHI and St. Luke’s Health with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), and an expansion of St. Luke’s historic research relationship with the Texas Heart^® Institute. These agreements represent a one-of-a-kind health care alliance in the region.  The collaborations include Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center’s 27.5-acre McNair Campus, a new 650 bed, acute-care hospital; creating with the Texas Heart^® Institute a state-of-the-art cardiovascular center as an integral part of the new hospital; and developing with BCM a comprehensive cancer center on the new campus as well as community cancer centers across the region.

Through these collaborations, BRHS will be able to serve area residents in new and innovative ways.

No job losses are anticipated as a direct result of the transaction.

St. Luke’s is committed to preserve existing physician relationships in the community and build new ones in the Lake Jackson area.  Medical staff privileges of the physicians at BRHS are not expected to be affected by the transaction. St. Luke’s is committed to creating a strong regional physician network to sustain and grow the network throughout the region.

Physicians and staff employed by BRHS as of Jan. 31, 2016, will continue their employment with the hospital.

St. Luke’s intends to retain the core health care services and charity care currently provided by BRHS in the Lake Jackson community.  A local board of community and physician leaders will review operations and advise St. Luke’s.