Common Ground Health and the Rochester Regional Health Information Organization (RRHIO) today announced plans to combine their organizations.

The new entity will improve health outcomes and advance health innovation by combining the RRHIO’s expertise providing a secure and quality ensured health and social determinant information exchange with Common Ground’s data analysis, convening and community engagement expertise.

Common Ground Health CEO Wade Norwood and RRHIO CEO Marlene Bessette will serve as co-CEOs of the combined organization. Board members selected the co-CEO model because Bessette’s and Norwood’s unique skillsets complement each other and are jointly required to deliver the vision of the new organization. Staff reductions are not anticipated.

“Our organizations are already quite lean, which is why combining our efforts will allow us to be able to do more to innovate,” Bessette said.

“Both organizations have been charged with being good stewards of our community’s data and resources,” Norwood added. “Joining forces will help us achieve a more sustainable future while also maintaining local oversight of data gathered throughout the region.”

“Our new organization will build the bridge between data and action,” Norwood said.

According to Melissa Gardner, board chair of the new entity, combining will allow the new organization to better adapt to the dynamic world of health care.

With the access to local data, advanced analytic infrastructure, and trust of our communities, this alignment enables us to mount a strategic response aimed at addressing the complex healthcare needs of our region,” Gardner said.

The merger is also designed to promote health equity, said Ann Marie Cook, vice-chair of the board and CEO of Lifespan.

“This combination will open up new funding opportunities to advance health equity and to further initiatives designed with and guided by the community,” Cook said.

New, unified branding for the combined organization will be developed over the next few months and will be released in the spring.

Bringing regional health planning closer together with health information exchanges has become an important trend, said Lisa Bari, CEO of Civitas Networks for Health, a national member and mission-driven organization that was formed in 2021. The opportunity to have more connected healthy communities from data-led multi-stakeholder approaches is not only the premise of Civitas but also directionally where we need to go to solve for some of the toughest challenges facing health improvement. Both Common Ground and the RRHIO are active members of Civitas.

“For decades, Rochester has been a role model in innovative thinking and leadership in health care,” Bari said. “This new entity will combine the best assets of Common Ground Health and the RRHIO, helping them continue leading the nation in health innovation.”

About the organizations:

Common Ground Health is the nonprofit health research and planning organization for the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. It brings together community members and leaders from health care, education, business, government and other sectors to find common ground on health challenges. Common Ground Health currently has 41 employees.

 

The Rochester Regional Health Information Organization (RRHIO)is a nonprofit providing a secure health and social determinant information exchange to the healthcare community in 14 counties of the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier. It offers timely access to information on clinical needs and health related social needs for better decision making that improves patient care and reduces system inefficiencies. The Rochester RHIO currently has 41 employees and an offshore development and support organization in Chenai, India.

Civitas Networks for Healthis a national nonprofit collaborative comprised of 170+ member organizations working to use health information exchange, health data, and multi-stakeholder, cross-sector approaches to improve health. We educate, promote, and influence both the private sector and policy makers on matters of interoperability, quality, coordination, health equity, and cost-effectiveness of health care, and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, lead multi-site grant-funded programs and projects. We are proud to support local health innovators by amplifying their voices at the national level and increasing the exchange of valuable resources, tools, and ideas.