Byline: The Register-Guard

In many respects, almost nothing is the same as it was in 2002 when McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center filed an antitrust suit against PeaceHealth. The dramatic changes over the past six years undoubtedly played a positive role in last week's settlement of that

The settlement brings a welcome close to an ugly chapter in the long and otherwise collaborative history of the two Lane County health care institutions.

At the time the suit was filed, McKenzie-Willamette was a private community hospital in Springfield that was hemorrhaging money and teetering on the brink of financial ruin. PeaceHealth was the dominant player in the regional health care marketplace, with Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene and smaller hospitals in Florence and Cottage Grove.

McKenzie-Willamette maintained that PeaceHealth engaged in unfair business practices, using its clout to muscle McKenzie-Willamette out of lucrative contracts with health insurers. At the conclusion of the 2003 trial, a jury found that PeaceHealth tried to monopolize the local hospital market, engaged in price discrimination and interfered with McKenzie-Willamette's relationships with health insurers. PeaceHealth was ordered to pay McKenzie-Willamette $16.2 million.

But the first of a series of significant changes began before the trial was over. Underdog McKenzie-Willamette was purchased by Triad Hospitals Inc., then the third-largest for-profit hospital chain in the country. Triad pumped fresh capital into the struggling Springfield hospital and announced a bold plan to build a new hospital in Eugene to compete aggressively for market share Triad believed PeaceHealth would lose in moving its new hospital to Springfield.

As a result of the merger with Triad, McKenzie-Willamette established Cascade Health Solutions to provide the health services the hospital no longer wanted to offer, such as hospice, occupational health, adult day care and home health. It was given a 20 percent stake in the hospital and assumed McKenzie-Willamette's interest in the suit.

More changes followed. Mel Pyne replaced Alan Yordy as CEO at PeaceHealth, and Maureen Cate took the helm at McKenzie-Willamette after the departure of Roy Orr. Both Pyne and Cate were committed to restoring a collaborative relationship between the hospitals.

Then last September, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict and sent the case back to the trial court. Since that time, leaders of PeaceHealth and Cascade have been working on a settlement.

Last week they announced that PeaceHealth will pay an undisclosed sum to Cascade for community health programs and will provide financial support for Cascade's plan to build a residential hospice house in Santa Clara, which is set to open in 2010.

Settlement of the rancorous lawsuit should open the door to a new era of cooperation and collaboration between PeaceHealth and McKenzie-Willamette. The right kind of cooperation is always good for the community and ultimately results in better patient care.