The partnership between Door County Medical Center (DCMC) and Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative (CGHC) will continue after reaching an agreement.

DCMC announced on Tuesday that the agreement between the two parties comes as a result of extensive community feedback and collaboration between both organizations.

Brian Stephens, DCMC CEO, emphasized the agreement's importance, stating, "The health exchange is an important platform for our community, enabling those who are seasonally employed, self-employed, and early retirees to obtain the health insurance coverage they need. This agreement between Door County Medical Center and Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative will ensure that our local residents have all the options available to them on the exchange and can continue to receive their care locally."

Stephens said there was enough give-and-take with Common Ground to get the new agreement through 2025 while working on a more long-term agreement. 

Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative CEO Cathy Mahaffey said that "CGHC and DCMC both recognize our importance to the Door County community, and we agreed that prioritizing the needs of our members and patients is essential.  With this shared understanding, we were able to reach a mutually agreeable compromise so service to our members and patients will continue uninterrupted."

Door County Medical Center announced this past July that they were terminating its contract with CGHC because the two sides could not agree on reimbursement for medical services.

The agreement comes just in time for the open enrollment period for the federal marketplace which opens on November 1st.