In October 2023, former Intermountain Health CEO Marc Harrison, M.D., announced he would lead a new company owned by venture capital firm General Catalyst called Health Assurance Transformation Corp. (HATCo). Besides working with General Catalyst’s health system partners on transforming their operations, he explained that HATCo would also acquire and operate a health system where it could demonstrate the blueprint for this transformation. Now Harrison has announced that the health system HATCO is planning to purchase is Akron-based Summa Health, one of the largest integrated healthcare delivery systems in Ohio.
If the deal meets regulatory approval, the currently nonprofit Summa Health will become a for-profit subsidiary of HATCo, and Summa Health will keep its current leadership and maintain its commitment to charity care. In addition, as a result of the transaction, a community foundation would be created to invest in social determinants of health in ways that benefit the entire Greater Akron area, HATCo said. The sale price was not disclosed.
Summa includes Akron City Hospital, the Barberton campus, SummaCare insurance company and outpatient locations and physician offices across the region, and has more than 8,000 employees, according to a story in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper.
The Beacon Journal reported that Summa has been looking to find a new partner for several years. Most recently, a deal to sell Summa to Michigan-based Beaumont Health fell through in 2020.
Harrison, HATCo’s CEO, and Hemant Taneja, General Catalyst CEO, will work with Summa’s leaders to leverage their collaborative, complementary expertise in healthcare and health systems to plan the transformation journey.
“This new structure will better serve our communities clinically, economically and socially. With HATCo, Summa Health will be able to increase local investment and introduce new resources that allow us to expand access to affordable, quality, coordinated care,” said Cliff Deveny, M.D., Summa Health president and CEO, in a statement. “We’re excited about new opportunities to enhance the patient and provider experience, strengthen our recruitment pipeline, build upon our commitment to medical education and training, and expand the growth of SummaCare to advance health equity and population health across the communities we serve.”
In May 2022, Intermountain and General Catalyst announced a collaboration to drive innovation across the Utah-based health system with the goals of expanding value-based care, reducing total costs of care, providing world-class patient experiences, and achieving health equity objectives. Intermountain said it would leverage Health Assurance Network, which is a group of tech innovation companies within General Catalyst’s investment portfolio. These companies include Transcarent, Olive, Sprinter Health, Commure, and Cadence, among others.
In August 2022, Harrison announced he was leaving Intermountain to run the healthcare platform business for General Catalyst.
“HATCo is grounded in the belief that by making health systems more profitable, vibrant and innovative, they will be better equipped to serve everyone in their communities with greater impact. We are thrilled to partner with Summa Health to bring this vision to life,” said Harrison, in a statement. “The current national healthcare system is fragmented and creates barriers to care and wellness. In partnership with Summa Health, we intend to prove that a model that’s better for patients can also be good for business and create a blueprint for other systems and communities.”
General Catalyst’s health system partners include UC Davis Health, HCA Healthcare, Jefferson Health, Intermountain Wellspan Health, Guy’s & St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, Cincinnati Children’s, UCI Health, Health First, Metro Health, Medical University of South Carolina Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Banner Health, Universal Health Services, and OhioHealth.
