Chicago-based Presence Health said on March 2 it joined St. Louis-based Ascension.
Presence Health, a 10-hospital Catholic health care system, became part of AMITA Health, which is based in Arlington Heights, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. AMITA is a nonprofit joint venture of Ascension's Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health, part of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based Adventist Health System.
Presence Health said with the exception of Presence Life Connections, all its facilities will become part of AMITA Health. Presence Life Connections has about 40 skilled nursing, assisted and independent living facilities in Illinois and Indiana. That division will join Ascension Living, Ascension's senior care subsidiary.
Tony Tersigni, Ascension's president and chief executive, said in a news release that Presence Health and Ascension will be "combining our strengths and learning from one another" to strengthen Catholic health care.
Michael Englehart, president and chief executive of Presence Health, said the collective strengths of Ascension and Presence will enable expanded access to care, and provide better value to patients.
Days after Presence Health joined AMITA, Englehart sent a message to associates on March 8 saying that he decided not to continue on as part of the Presence Health leadership team joining AMITA Health. He said he planned to take some time off and then pursue new opportunities. His last day was to be March 30.
Mark A. Frey, president and chief executive officer of AMITA Health and senior vice president of Ascension Healthcare, a division of Ascension, said, "Presence Health and AMITA Health coming together strengthens our ability to deliver on our shared mission of serving all persons in our communities, with special attention to people living in poverty and those most vulnerable."
Two other hospitals that were previously part of Presence Health became part of OSF HealthCare, effective Feb. 1. Those hospitals are OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana, Ill., formerly Presence Covenant Medical Center. The other is OSF HealthCare Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville, Ill., which had been Presence United Samaritans Medical Center.
Note: The online version of this story has been updated from the print version in the March 15 Catholic Health World. The transaction closed after Catholic Health World went to press.
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