CHI and Dignity complete merger, renamed CommonSpirit
Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health have completed their merger, launching a new nonprofit Catholic health system, CommonSpirit Health. The deal brings together two large non-profit healthcare systems.
The new, $29 billion health system serves communities in 21 states, with more than 142 hospitals and 700 sites of care. The CEOs of both companies will serve as CEOs in the Office of the CEO for the new health system. Talks of the deal originally surfaced in late 2016.
Under terms of the deal, the new ministry will retain the names of local facilities and services.
"Our new organization will bring the expertise of a national health system to neighborhoods across the country," said Catholic Health Initiatives CEO Kevin E. Lofton. "Whether it's a neurological institute in Arizona, a 25-bed critical access facility in North Dakota, a mobile lung cancer screening program in Tennessee or a 'hospital at home' in Nebraska, CommonSpirit Health will expand the best approaches from across our new organization. Our whole will be much greater than the sum of our parts."
The healthcare system has approximately 150,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians. In 2018, the two companies provided $4.2 billion in charity care, community benefits and unreimbursed government programs.
The new health system will focus on five key areas:
- Expanding clinical expertise across primary, acute and specialty care, with a focus on chronic and complex conditions
- Accelerating the shift toward care outside of hospitals, including homes, communities and online
- Investing in technologies for convenient and personal care
- Addressing the causes of poor health and pushing policies that improve the health of the most vulnerable patients
- Retaining and recruiting a highly-skilled and dedicated workforce
“We didn't combine our ministries to get bigger, we came together to provide better care for more people," Dignity Health President and CEO Lloyd H. Dean said in a statement. "We created CommonSpirit Health because in order to solve national health challenges, we need the breadth, scope, and resources to make a nationwide impact. We believe that no one should ever have to choose between being healthy and putting food on the table."
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."