Months after the two entities announced plans to enter a more formal partnership, Northeast Georgia Health System announced Wednesday that Longstreet Clinic will officially be joining the health system by the end of 2025.
The release from NGHS said the partnership will take effect sometime "during the fourth quarter of 2025."
Longstreet Clinic opened in 1995 in Gainesville and has worked alongside NGHS for most of their existence, including using a shared medical record system and the development of several services including the neonatal intensive care unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center's Gainesville and Braselton locations.
Mimi Collins, CEO of Longstreet, said she is excited about the partnership.
"This strategic partnership will help us take quality health care to an even higher level in the communities we serve," Collins said. "We enter this agreement with the firm belief that the best is yet to come."
New NGHS President and CEO Matt Hanley expressed similar excitement.
"We are excited to welcome Longstreet Clinic physicians, clinicians and staff to the NGHS family alongside Northeast Georgia Physicians Group and Georgia Heart Institute," Hanley said. "This is yet another way our team is working to improve the health of our community in all we do."
Robert Richard, president & chairman of the Governing Board of Longstreet Clinic, said the partnership will not alter care offered by the clinic.
“From a day-to-day perspective, our operations will remain largely unchanged, meaning patients can look forward to receiving the same great care and service with the same expert physicians, providers and staff at the same convenient locations," Richard said.
NGHS Spokesperson Layne Saliba said in a statement Wednesday that the health system is continuing to work to resolve contract negotiations with insurance company United Healthcare. United customers have been out-of-network for NGHS since 2023 after negotiations broke down between the two sides. However, as of April 30, 2025, United remains in-network for Longstreet Clinic.
"NGHS continues to negotiate in good faith with United and all other insurance payors/plans to maintain in-network care for the people Longstreet and NGHS serve," Saliba said. "Specifics will be confirmed and communicated as we get feedback from those insurance payors/plans before Longstreet officially joins NGHS."
