Mercy Health System Selected To Manage Tulsa's OSU Med Center

The Oklahoma State University Medical Authority says it has selected Mercy Health System as the medical organization to manage the 249-bed OSU Medical Center in downtown Tulsa.

"The OSUMA board's decision to select Mercy as a potential management partner for the medical center is a pivotal moment for OSU, Tulsa and the rest of the state," said Jerry Hudson, chair of the OSU Medical Center Trust.

"Mercy's reputation and experience in operating high-quality, large-volume hospitals throughout this region of the country is well-known. Mercy's unquestioned commitment to the OSU medical school residents and students and their passion to care for the medically underserved creates a sound foundation for a long-term relationship."

OSUMA owns the Tulsa facility. The funds also support graduate medical education and medical residencies for the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa.

In a news release, the authority will now begin negotiations between Mercy and OSU on a long-term management contract.

"Mercy is pleased our proposal has been selected and we look forward to the next-phase of discussions with OSU towards a potential long-term management relationship," said Di Smalley, FACHE, regional president of Mercy in Oklahoma.

"The mission of the OSU Medical Center and the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine to provide Oklahoma with well-educated and trained primary care physicians and to serve both rural and urban underserved medical communities is ideally aligned with Mercy's mission in Oklahoma."

Mercy is the sixth largest Catholic health care system in the U.S. and serves more than 3 million people annually.

Oklahoma State University says its medical center in Tulsa is the nation's largest osteopathic teaching hospital working directly with the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine to train approximately 150 primary care physicians a year.