Morton Hospital, a Steward family hospital, will be a part of Civica Rx, a new, innovative effort to ensure essential generic medications are available, affordable and accessible to all. Civica Rx is a highly-collaborative not-for-profit generic drug company whose mission is to drive down costs and increase supply of life-saving medicines. Morton Hospital’s participation in the initiative is made possible thanks to the hospital being part of Steward Health Care, the largest privately operated health care network in the United States, and a founding member of Civica Rx.

 

Morton Hospital joins prominent health systems, including Mayo Clinic and HCA Healthcare, to sign on with Civica. Overall, approximately 800 U.S. hospitals have joined the venture, with many more health systems expressing interest. Through a collaborative approach, the partnership will identify the production needs of in-demand drugs and develop high-quality FDA approved medications at affordable prices, closing gaps in the drug marketplace.

 

“Morton Hospital and Steward are proud to join Civica because a new, highly-collaborative, approach is needed to solve America’s drug shortage crisis,” said Dr. Joseph Weinstein, Chief Medical Officer of Steward Health Care. “Over the past decade, Steward has created a different kind of health care company, one that prioritizes wellness and unlocks access to high-quality, affordable care – which aligns with the critically important mission of Civica.”

 

“We are thrilled to welcome these highly-regarded health systems to Civica as founding members,” said Martin VanTrieste, CEO of Civica Rx. “Drug shortages have become a national crisis where patient treatments and surgeries are canceled, delayed or suboptimal. We thank these organizations for joining us to make essential generic medicines accessible and affordable in hospitals across the country.”

 

Civica Rx expects to bring over 14 hospital-administered generic drugs to hospitals and health care systems in 2019 as the initial focus of the company’s efforts, with many additional medications prioritized by the health care systems as the next phase of focus for the company.

 

About Morton Hospital

 

Morton Hospital is a 112-bed acute-care hospital providing comprehensive inpatient, outpatient and 24/7 emergency services to Taunton and the communities of southeastern Massachusetts. The hospital's strengths include emergency medicine, diabetes care, imaging services, orthopedics, rehabilitation services, surgery and wound healing. Morton Hospital is part of the Steward Health Care Systems LLC, the largest integrated community care organization in New England which combines over 3,000 physicians, 11 acute care hospitals, managed care, insurance programs, home care, an imaging operation, and a number of other post-acute services, to provide the most cost effective and highest quality of integrated patient care. Additional information is available at www.Mortonhospital.org

 

About Steward Health Care

Steward Health Care is the largest private, for-profit physician-led health care network in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Steward operates 36 hospitals in the United States and the country of Malta that regularly receive top awards for quality and safety. The company employs approximately 40,000 health care professionals. The Steward network includes multiple urgent care centers and skilled nursing facilities, substantial behavioral health services, over 7,900 beds under management, and approximately 2.2 million full risk covered lives through the company's managed care and health insurance services.

The Steward Health Care Network includes five thousand physicians across 800 communities who help to provide more than 12 million patient encounters per year. Steward Medical Group, the company's employed physician group, provides more than six million patient encounters per year. The Steward Hospital Group operates hospitals in Malta and nine states across the U.S., including Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah.

About Civica Rx

Civica Rx was established by philanthropies and leading health systems in the U.S. to ensure essential generic medicines are consistently accessible and affordable within a robust and reliable supply chain. Civica Rx, a not-for-profit, non-stock generic drug manufacturing company, acts in the best interest of patients who are at risk during drug shortages that are created by inconsistent, unpredictable, and often unstable market dynamics. As part of Civica Rx’s business model, health systems and philanthropy partners determine the drugs that Civica Rx manufactures based largely on the most urgent need. The process for drug selection goes through a newly created Civica Rx Drug Selection Advisory Committee, with medications to manufacture ultimately approved by Civica Rx’s governing board.

Civica Rx is collaborating with the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) newly formed AHA Center for Health Innovation to address inquiries about the initiative. Health systems and hospitals may call 800-242-4677 with questions, or visit www.civicarx.org for information.