The 25 largest integrated health systems

When ranking integrated health systems by the total number of facilities they own or manage, there’s a new No. 1: St. Louis, Mo.-based Ascension Health.

According to the report released by SK&A, Ascension now controls 2,331 total facilities, up from nearly over 2,100 in 2016. That was enough to overtake Community Health Systems for the No. 1 spot, with CHS’ ongoing downsizing bringing its total to 1,930 facilities from 2,224 last year.

“The new ecosystem of healthcare is maturing rapidly,” the SK&A report said “The integrated customer is moving from uncoordinated to advanced levels of influence, control and financial responsibility. The ranking of the top 25 integrated healthcare systems changes continuously as systems expand their networks and range through provider employment, affiliations and management contracts.”

Other systems could be considered the largest by different measures. Nashville-based HCA controls the most hospitals at (192), while Kaiser Permanente is No. 1 by number of physicians (9,632 MDs and DOs combined) and Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health has the most nursing homes (43). Ascension, however, is one of only two systems to be in the top five in all of those areas, the other being Catholic Health Initiatives.

Here’s the full top 25 list of largest integrated health systems:

  1. Ascension Health (St. Louis)—2,331 total facilities
  2. Community Health Systems (Franklin, Tenn.)—1,930
  3. Catholic Health Initiatives (Englewood, Colo.)—1,740
  4. HCA (Nashville)—1,688
  5. Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.)—1,592
  6. Kaiser Permanente (Oakland)—1,204
  7. Tenet Healthcare (Dallas)—1,186
  8. UPMC Health System (Pittsburgh)—1,010
  9. UC Health System (Oakland)—929
  10. Carolinas Healthcare System (Charlotte)—817
  11. Mercy Health System (Chesterfield, Mo.)—815
  12. Partners Healthcare System (Boston)—810
  13. New York-Presbyterian Healthcare (New York City)—728
  14. Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.)—700
  15. Northwell Health (Great Neck, N.Y.)—692
  16. Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas)—677
  17. LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.)—672
  18. Adventist Health System (Altamonte Springs, Fla.)—620
  19. Providence Health & Services (Renton, Wash.)—594
  20. Dignity Health (San Francisco)—594
  21. Cleveland Clinic—573
  22. Universal Health Services (King of Prussia, Pa.)—570
  23. Advocate Health Care (Downers Grove, Ill.)—539
  24. University of Texas Health System (Austin, Texas)—532
  25. University of Indiana Health (Indianapolis, Ind.)—502
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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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