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Benefis Health System is a nonprofit independent health care system based in the city of Great Falls in the state of Montana in the United States. The system owns 516-bed Benefis Hospital, Sletten Cancer Institute, Benefis Mercy Flight (a fixed-wing and helicopter emergency medical evacuation service), 146-bed Benefis Extended Care Center (for both rehabilitation and long-term nursing care), 12-bed Peace Hospice of Montana, Benefis Quick Care (an ambulatory care facility), and Benefis Physician Associates.〔"Benefis Boasts of Being State's Largest Hospital." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' March 28, 2010.〕 As of March 2011, it was Montana's largest hospital.〔"Benefis is State's Largest Hospital." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' March 27, 2011.〕 ==Formation== The forerunner of Benefis Health System was Benefis Healthcare. Benefis Healthcare was formed when 145-bed Columbus Hospital (a Catholic Church-owned hospital founded in 1892) and 339-bed Montana Deaconess Medical Center (a hospital founded in 1898 by the Methodist Episcopal Church) merged in July 1996.〔Wilmot, Paula. "Clinic Buys Surgical Hospital." ''Great Falls Tribune.'' January 26, 2006.〕 The two hospitals first considered merging in 1994, but a traditional merger was held up by prolonged disagreements (which lasted 20 months)〔Shinkman, Ron. "Monopoly Is For the Benefis of None." ''Modern Healthcare.'' February 8, 1999.〕 with state and federal antitrust officials over the legality of the merger.〔Shinkman, Ron. "Great Flap in Montana." ''Modern Healthcare.'' September 15, 1997.〕 The hospitals finally merged in July 1996 under a so-called "certificate of public advantage" (COPA), a provision in Montana state antitrust law which permitted hospitals to merge prior to examination of the merger under state antitrust laws, provided that the state issued a certification that the merger met public need (the COPA) and further provided that the merging hospitals agreed to certain conditions imposed by the state.〔American Bar Association, p. 152-153.〕 The U.S. Federal Trade Commission dropped its objections to the merger after the COPA was signed.〔Shinkman, Ron. "For the Benefis of One: State Lets Montana System Expand on Local Monopoly." ''Modern Healthcare.'' January 5, 1998.〕 Columbus and Deaconess hospitals were the first hospitals in the United States to merge under a state COPA statute.〔〔"Regional News: West." ''Modern Healthcare.'' September 9, 1996.〕 The name "Benefis" was chosen because, although it was not a word found in any dictionary, it sounded similar to words such as beneficence, beneficial, and benefit.〔 A number of conditions on the merger were required by both state and federal governments. These included a limit on excess revenues ("profits"), that $86 million in cost savings be passed on to consumers, and a prohibition on certain anti-competitive behaviors.〔〔Snow, Charlotte. "Montana Blues, Clinic Form Joint-Venture Health Plan." ''Modern Healthcare.'' October 14, 1996.〕 Another restriction prohibited Benefis from entering into any joint ventures which would permit existing services to be transferred to the joint venture (thus enabling Benefis to skirt the COPA agreement).〔 The merged entity was originally named Benefis Healthcare.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Benefis Health System」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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