[July 20, 2011] Upper Midwest Consolidated Services Center Announces New Agreement With St. Jude Medical for Cardiac Rhythm Management Products Tweet IRVING, TX, Jul 20, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The Upper Midwest Consolidated Services Center, LLC, a VHA SupplyNetwork(TM), today announced that it has awarded a one-year contract for cardiac rhythm management (CRM) products to St. Jude Medical(TM), St. Paul, Minn., an awarded supplier of Novation, LLC. The 33 members of the Upper Midwest Consolidated Services Center (UMCSC) spend more than $110 million annually on CRM devices including pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, heart failure devices, leads and related accessories. All of the members of the UMCSC are members of VHA Inc., the national health care network. This agreement complements the UMCSC's existing agreement for CRM products with Boston Scientific and replaces a previous agreement between the UMCSC and Medtronic Inc. St. Jude Medical is a leading provider of medical devices that treat cardiac, neurological and chronic pain patients. In April 2011, Novation, the leading health care supply contracting company for the members of VHA, UHC and Provista, LLC, announced a 30-month agreement with St. Jude Medical for CRM products. "We rely on our contracting company, Novation, and the suppliers that collaborate with Novation to deliver both great quality products and great value to our members," said Dr. David O'Regan, of Medcenter One Health Systems, Bismarck, North Dakota, and Chair of the UMCSC Clinical Committee. "We are pleased and excited about our new agreement with St. Jude Medical that complements our existing relationship with Boston Scientific. Together, these agreements allow the UMCSC to offer a high-quality, innovative, high value portfolio of CRM devices for physicians to use in providing optimal patient care." The UMCSC members are: Altru Health System Bay Area Medical Center Beaver Dam Community Hospitals Inc. Bellin Memorial Hospital Inc. Beloit Health System CentraCare Health System Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare Essentia Health Froedtert Health Inc. Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital Gundersen Lutheran Inc. Jamestown Hospital Lake Region Healthcare LifeCare Medical Center Little Company of Mary Hospital & Health Care Centers Mayo Clinic Medcenter One Health Systems Meriter Health Services North Memorial Health Care Prairie Lakes Healthcare System ProHealth Care Inc. Rice Memorial Hospital Ridgeview Medical Center Sanford Health Sherman Health Systems Silver Cross Hospital Corporation St. Luke's Hospital of Duluth SwedishAmerican Health System Corporation Swedish Covenant Hospital ThedaCare Inc. Trinity Health UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Wisconsin Valley Health Network "We welcome the opportunity to work closely with the members of the UMCSC as our cardiac rhythm management products aid their continued efforts to provide value-based, successful outcomes for their patients," said Mike Rousseau, group president of St. Jude Medical. "We are pleased that UMCSC has chosen to use St. Jude Medical technology in their efforts to create and maintain supply chain efficiencies." About VHA -- VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. In 2010, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.7 billion to members. Formed in 1977, VHA serves nearly 1,350 not-for-profit hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide, coordinating delivery of its programs and services through its 16 regional offices. VHA has been listed as one of the best places to work in health care by Modern Healthcare since 2008 and one of the best places to work in IT by Computer World since 2007. About Novation -- Founded in 1998, Novation is the leading health care supply contracting company for more than 25,000 members of VHA Inc. and UHC, two national health care alliances, and 5,500 members of Provista, LLC, representing more than 30,000 sites. Novation provides alliance members sourcing and information and data services. Based in Irving, Texas, Novation develops and manages competitive contracts with more than 600 suppliers. VHA, UHC and Provista members used Novation contracts to purchase nearly $40 billion in 2010. VHA Media Contact Maxine Levy 972.830.7845 Email Contact SOURCE: VHA INC. http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=53D79F0B79105716 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]