After months of looking at potential partners for Portneuf Medical Center... 2 finalists have been named.
Those finalists are Texas-based Legacy Hospital Partners and Tennessee-based company LifePointe Hospitals.
Each would bring something different to the table in partnering with PMC.
PMC has been searching for a new partner to help financially with construction of it's new facility and also help the hospital grow.

"They had to have certain community values." Larry Ghan, Bannock County Commissioner

And those community values were the topic of discussion as I spoke with each company today.
Texas-based Legacy Hospital Partners is a privately held company who specializes in partnering with non-profits. The company concentrates on small-city markets.

"You have an accountability back to the local market place." James Shannon, Legacy

Life Pointe on the other hand is a publicly traded company with 48 hospitals in 17 states. It's focus lies in providing health care services in non-urban communities.

"First and foremost our mission is making communities healthier"- Paul Hannah, Life Point

Both companies share similar ideas for the hospital's future including a vision to make Portneuf a regional referral center.

"Most hospitals to remain viable have to add state of the art equipment, state of the art facilities and add doctors" - Shannon
"not only will it meet the needs of Pocatello but also the surrounding communities." -Hannah
"Both companies are very excited to help us continue evolving."-Ghan

The county commission Larry Ghan says both would be excellent choices for the partnership.

With the potential partners narrowed down to 2...The commissioners hope to have a finalist in August and a vote will be made in the county-wide election in November.
The public is encouraged to help every step of the way... Each company will attend question and answer sessions which are open to the public next week.

The information sessions will be in the Kasiska College of Health on the Idaho State University Campus.
On Tuesday night the meeting will be with Legacy Hospital Partners at 7:30 PM
Life Point Hospitals Inc will meet on Wednesday at 7:30PM.