Industry
Trinity Health Shifts Strategy to Primary Care Over ER Access
Trinity Health executives outlined a strategy, discussed during the system's fiscal 2026 investor call on Oct. 26, to make primary care rather than the emergency department the main entry point into its 88-hospital system. The system expects to reach 2.4 million primary care members by fiscal 2027 after adding 127 new primary care providers in fiscal 2026, with 100 more planned. Trinity is also investing in a unified patient record, closed-loop referrals, and navigation tools, and plans to steer patients who lose insurance coverage toward appropriate care settings to reduce avoidable, low-acuity emergency department visits. Executives framed the shift as a way to improve payer mix and reduce reliance on seasonal ER volume swings.
Why it mattersFor Medicaid managed care plans and state agencies, Trinity's push to redirect coverage-losing patients away from costly ER use toward primary care could shape utilization and cost patterns tied to post-redetermination churn.