POULSBO — Harrison Medical Center owner CHI Franciscan Health and The Doctors Clinic announced Aug. 31 they are “coming together to enhance patient access and efficiency.”

Scott Thompson, CHI Franciscan Health’s media relations specialist, said it would not be accurate to write that his employer is acquiring The Doctors Clinic. “They are partnering,” he said.

Are they still separate entities? Thompson deferred to Dr. Peter F. O’Connor, chief operating officer of Franciscan Medical Group. Thompson said he’d connect O’Connor with the Herald later in the day.

Meanwhile, CHI Franciscan “is not buying any of [The Doctors Clinic] buildings or anything like that,” Thompson said. “Patients will not see much change, other than some new signage. It should be a seamless transition.”

The Doctors Clinic will be part of Franciscan Medical Group effective Sept. 3, and signage will say “The Doctors Clinic, part of Franciscan Medical Group,” Thompson said.

“Aligning with The Doctors Clinic to enhance health care services for individuals and families across Kitsap Peninsula is an excellent direction for the region,” CHI Franciscan Health CEO Ketul J. Patel said in a press release.

“Our organizations have a shared mission and commitment to clinical excellence and enhancing access to care for our communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.”

The Doctors Clinic, which has grown to a team of 80 primary care doctors and specialists in eight locations throughout Kitsap County, has been caring for the people and communities in Kitsap County for more than six decades. TDC will join CHI Franciscan Health’s Franciscan Medical Group and Harrison HealthPartners, which consists of 800 physicians and providers, “bringing the best elements of their practices together to share resources, reduce operating costs and deliver innovative and personalized care to Kitsap communities.”

Jay Burghart, executive director of The Doctors Clinic, said in the same press release, “We are thrilled to partner with CHI Franciscan Health, a premier health care provider in the Pacific Northwest, and continue to increase access to superior and individualized care for residents in the Kitsap region. The Doctors Clinic is focused on providing all of our patients with high-quality and compassionate care to get them back to living healthy lives. We believe that our new partnership will be a positive and exciting new direction for individuals and families living on the peninsula.”

CHI Franciscan announced earlier this week that it plans to invest more than $500 million at Harrison Medical Center in Silverdale, with the planned construction of a new hospital at that location. The Doctors Clinic’s main offices and locations are adjacent to the Harrison Silverdale campus.

CHI Franciscan Health (www.chifranciscan.org) is a nonprofit health system based in Tacoma, with nearly 12,000 doctors, nurses and staff at eight acute care hospitals and more than 100 primary and specialty care clinics in Pierce, King and Kitsap counties.

CHI Franciscan Health’s hospitals are St. Anthony Hospital, Gig Harbor; St. Clare Hospital, Lakewood; St. Elizabeth Hospital, Enumclaw; St. Francis Hospital, Federal Way; St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma; Harrison Medical Center, Bremerton and Silverdale; Highline Medical Center, Burien; and Regional Hospital, Burien.

The Doctors Clinic (thedoctorsclinic.com), a multi-specialty medical group, was founded in 1949.