Kaiser’s Risant completes first acquisition
The first phase of Kaiser Permanente’s rollout of Risant Health has been completed, as the new nonprofit organization has officially closed its blockbuster acquisition of Geisinger Health.
Under the deal, which was first announced in spring 2023, Geisinger’s current president and CEO, Jaewon Ryu, MD, JD, will serve as CEO of Risant Health.
"Geisinger is proud to formally join Risant Health as its inaugural health system, which will accelerate our vision to make better health easier, more affordable and more accessible for the communities we serve," Ryu says in a news release. "Geisinger now can extend its vision, strategy and impact to more Pennsylvanians because of the access to an expanded set of tools, expertise and capital that joining Risant Health provides."
When first announcing the new venture, Kaiser said Risant will seek to build a portfolio of like-minded health systems focused on value-based care in diverse, multipayer, multiprovider, community-based environments. The Geisinger deal is only the beginning, as Risant expects to acquire as many as five additional systems in the next five years, according to the organization.
While Risant Health is a subsidiary of Kaiser Permanente, it operates separately from that system's closed integrated care network. Systems that become part of Risant, like Geisinger, will likewise operate distinctly from Kaiser’s model and continue to operate as regional or community-based health systems.
Geisinger will maintain its name and mission to accept patients in Pennsylvania covered by other health plans, as well as continue offering its members a broad network of care providers in addition to Geisinger. The system currently runs 10 hospitals and a roughly 600,000-member health plan.
Terry Gilliland, MD, will assume the role of president and CEO of Geisinger once Ryu has fully transitioned to his new role with Risant.
Evan joined TriMed in 2011, writing primarily for Health Imaging. Prior to diving into medical journalism, Evan worked for the Nine Network of Public Media in St. Louis. He also has worked in public relations and education. Evan studied journalism at the University of Missouri, with an emphasis on broadcast media.