After a 15-year alliance, the contract between University of Washington Medicine and Valley Medical Center in Renton has ended after agreements could not be met.

“This agreement was not a merger or acquisition. Valley has remained an independent public hospital district,” said Valley Communications Director Kristin Bidwell. “The needs Valley had in 2011 when we entered this affiliation are vastly different than those we have today. Health care has changed over the past decade with care rapidly shifting to lower cost, community-based, outpatient settings.”

Despite the dissolution of the contract, Bidwell said that Valley will always have some level of collaboration with UW Medicine due to its status as the only Level I Trauma Center in the region and that the hospital is evaluating other potential collaborations.