The pandemic doesn’t seem to have slowed the pace of consolidation among health systems. In the most recent announcement, Washington-based health systems CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason, along with CommonSpirit Health, the parent company of CHI Franciscan, have formed a joint operating company to explore combining the two health systems.
Virginia Mason is a nonprofit regional health care system based in Seattle. Its system includes 336-bed Virginia Mason Hospital; Virginia Mason Memorial, a 226-bed hospital serving Yakima Valley in central Washington, and a primary and specialty care group practice of more than 500 physicians. CHI Franciscan is a Catholic nonprofit health system based in Tacoma, with $2.45 billion in total revenue and a team of more than 12,500 physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, and staff who provide care at 10 hospitals and over 220 primary and specialty care clinics throughout the greater Puget Sound.
The new organization would focus on developing innovative models of care delivery, the health systems said. In recent years, CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason have partnered on obstetric and women’s health, as well as a radiation oncology
“We looked at a variety of models and partnerships and, through our existing affiliation with CHI Franciscan, came to the clear conclusion that combining our organizations to form a new health system would allow us both to shape healthcare nationally and continue our focus on the patient experience,” said Gary Kaplan, M.D., chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason, in a prepared statement. “Our combined health system would increase our ability to provide the highest quality care to our patients in the Puget Sound region and in central Washington. There is much to be determined in the coming months as we hopefully transition toward a final agreement, but we are aligned on the vision and the strategy to achieve it.”
The new health system would be led by Kaplan and Ketul Patel, CEO of CHI Franciscan and president of the Pacific Northwest Division at CommonSpirit Health, as co-CEOs, and each organization would receive an equal number of board seats. The combined organization would operate 12 hospitals and more than 250 sites of care, including same-day surgery centers, Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Bailey-Boushay House, and the Virginia Mason Institute. If combined, CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason would employ more than 21,000 team members and staff, including nearly 5,000 employed and affiliated providers.
