The Pikeville Medical Center announced Thursday that it is becoming a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.

The network connects doctors with Mayo Clinic specialists for diagnosis, therapy and care management through an online information system.

The Pikeville center is the second medical center in Kentucky to join the network. Saint Elizabeth Healthcare, a system with hospitals in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, also is a member.

The Pikeville center is a 261-bed hospital that is undergoing a $150 million expansion. The project includes an 11-story clinic and a 10-story parking garage. The center employs more than 2,300 people.

“I have admired Mayo Clinic for many years and tried to make Pikeville Medical Center more like the Mayo Clinic,” Walter E. May, Pikeville president and CEO, said in a news release. “This new agreement will take our hospital to the next level.”

The Mayo network was launched in 2011. It has member organizations based in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Joining the Mayo network is a collaboration, not an acquisition or merger.

Affiliated physicians can consult with Mayo specialists about patients who are difficult to diagnose or treat. Affiliates may advertise the relationship but may not claim that they’re an official part of the Mayo Clinic.

The Mayo Clinic began the affiliate program in 2011 with a North Dakota hospital. The clinic had previously treated patients who traveled to its main campus in Rochester, Minn., or satellite campuses in Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. The Mayo clinic also has a regional health system in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota