CommonSpirit to halt management agreement in Colorado and acquire Utah hospital system

March 15, 2023

Centura Health no longer will function as the joint management company for hospitals owned by CommonSpirit and AdventHealth in Colorado and Kansas. Separately, CommonSpirit and Centura Health are in talks for CommonSpirit to acquire a network of health care facilities in Utah from Steward Health Care.

Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the predecessors of CommonSpirit Health, joined AdventHealth in 1996 in forming Centura Health as a management company. When CommonSpirit and AdventHealth discontinue the management agreement governing 20 hospitals, AdventHealth will operate and manage the five Adventist hospitals and their affiliated clinics in Colorado and CommonSpirit will operate and manage its 15 hospitals and affiliated clinics in Colorado and Western Kansas.

CommonSpirit, AdventHealth and Centura said in a Feb. 14 press release that while the 27-year partnership had been strong and fruitful, it had reached its natural end point.

The organizations said in the release that CommonSpirit and AdventHealth agree that "they can best serve their communities and health care ministries without a partnership — with each organization directly managing their respective care sites which comprise Centura Health."

The organizations are not providing additional details at this time.

Utah acquisition
In a Feb. 15 press release, CommonSpirit, Steward Health Care and Centura said the three organizations had signed an asset purchase agreement that would have CommonSpirit acquiring Steward's Utah health care facilities. This includes five hospitals, more than 35 medical group clinics and additional facilities.

Neither CommonSpirit nor Centura currently have a presence in Utah.

The organizations expect to finalize the transaction later this year, pending regulatory approvals. At that point, Steward's Utah facilities will be wholly owned and sponsored by CommonSpirit and managed by Centura. Steward is a for-profit, secular health system.

With the ownership transition, the Utah facilities will eventually become nonprofit Catholic hospitals.

Marvin O'Quinn, CommonSpirit president and chief operating officer, said in the Feb. 15 release that CommonSpirit's expansion into Utah "will further support our strategic vision to create an integrated continuum of care in communities where we have a presence."

 

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