In our Aug. 16 issue, we speculated about a coming wave of mergers or strategic alliances in health care, with UCLA’s medical center and USC’s Keck School of Medicine mentioned as possible partners.

Three weeks later Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria announced that it had received official affiliation with USC-Keck to create a residency program in family medicine beginning next year.

The program will involve placing six resident physicians from Keck per year rotating through the Dignity Health Family Medical Center, Marian, a teaching hospital, and nearby Dignity Health outpatient sites.

This is a big coup for Dignity Health Central Coast which operates Marian, French Hospital Medical Center and Arroyo Grande Community Hospital.

It also brings the talent and reputation of Keck to bear on a serious problem — attracting and keeping family medical practitioners on the Central Coast.