PRMC President Peggy Naleppa shakes hands with Bayhealth President Terry Murphy at Tuesday's announcement.

Two major health care systems on the Delmarva Peninsula announced Tuesday they have joined together to form an interstate partnership to improve the overall health care experience for all Delmarva residents.

Bayhealth, with hospitals in Dover and Milford, and Peninsula Regional Health System of Salisbury, which operates Peninsula Regional Medical Center, have formed HealthPartners Delmarva.

The collaboration allows each hospital to share the best practices of both organizations, but is not a financial purchase of one health system by the other.The partnership is focused on collaborating to improve patient care and access and is not a consolidation of workforces.

HealthPartners Delmarva was developed and approved by the Boards of each health system to better implement the health care Triple Aim of improving the experience for the patient, improving the health of our communities and creating a way for people to obtain those services in the most affordable setting.

“Creating the best experience for our patients will mean identifying and adopting best practices that focus on convenience, safety, time and cost efficiency,” said Terry Murphy, Bayhealth’s president and CEO.

“By bringing together the experience, innovation and patient-centered values of our two health systems, we can be even more prepared for the new realities of health care.”

Dr. Peggy Naleppa, president and CEO of PRMC said: “Similar-minded health systems like Bayhealth and Peninsula Regional Health System, which have similar patient-first values, are establishing what the future of health care will look like on the Delmarva Peninsula.

“Together we have as our goal to provide patients greater access to best-in-class health care and to leverage for the benefit of our patients the combined intellectual assets of each health system,” she said.

HealthPartners Delmarva will identify new opportunities to improve outcomes and innovative ways to share services while reducing expenses.

The alliance is focused on designing tools and processes for clinical improvement using the shared knowledge of both organizations. It will also bring together community providers to enhance integrated care that focuses on the health of the community as a whole.