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Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives to Combine to Form New Catholic Health System Focused on Creating Healthier Communities

New Organization to Preserve and Expand Access to Quality Care Geographically Complementary Facilities Across 28 States

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – December 7, 2017 – Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health have signed a definitive agreement to combine ministries and create a new, nonprofit Catholic health system. The combination brings together two leading health systems, allowing the organizations to expand their mission of service and create a healthier future for people and communities across 28 states.

The new health system will build a stronger operational and financial foundation to expand access to quality care, build upon complementary resources and capabilities, and reinvest in critical areas to accelerate improvements in care delivery.

“We are joining together to create a new Catholic health system, one that is positioned to accelerate the change from sick-care to well-care across the United States,” said Kevin E. Lofton, chief executive officer of CHI. “Our new organization will have the talent, depth, breadth, and passion to improve the health of every person and community we serve.”

“By combining our ministries and building upon our shared mission, we will expand our commitment to meeting the needs of all people with compassion, regardless of income, ethnicity, or language,” said Lloyd Dean, president and chief executive officer of Dignity Health. “We foresee an incredible opportunity to expand each organization’s best practices to respond to the evolving health care environment and deliver high-quality, cost-effective care.”

Key strategic and reinvestment priorities for the new system will include:

• The expansion of community-based care, offering access to services in a variety of outpatient and virtual care settings closer to home;
• Clinical programs focused on special populations and those suffering from chronic illnesses to keep people and communities healthier for longer; and
• Further advancement of digital technologies and innovations like stroke robots and Google Glass, which create a more personalized and efficient care experience.

The new health system will include more than 700 care sites and 139 hospitals, offering people and communities access to quality care delivered by approximately 159,000 employees and more than 25,000 physicians and other advanced practice clinicians. The organizations are geographically complementary with no overlap across hospital service areas.

The new organization will be led by an office of the CEO. Dean and Lofton will both serve as CEOs, each with specific and independent responsibilities and decision-making authority. Together, the CEOs will jointly oversee strategy and integration planning. Lofton will have authority for mission, advocacy, sponsorship and governance, system partnerships, and information technology. Dean will have authority for all of operations, including clinical, financial, and human resources. They will work side-by-side with the executive team to plan a successful integration.

The governing board for the new organization – the Board of Stewardship Trustees – will include six members from each legacy board and the two CEOs. The new organization plans to establish its corporate headquarters in Chicago and operate under a new name that will be chosen in the second half of 2018. Local facilities will continue operating under their current names.

The organization will continue its commitment to supporting communities through charity care, grants, and loans to ensure a positive impact on creating healthier communities. In fiscal year 2017, the systems collectively provided approximately $4.7 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unpaid cost of government programs. Continuing the traditions of both organizations, the new system will support high-priority strategic programs as well as expand existing efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. The new system will be guided by our shared mission that emphasizes social justice for all people and will work to ensure that those values are part of the local and national health care environment.

This combination brings together two organizations with complementary missions, capabilities, and talent to advance clinical achievements. Dignity Health has a proven operating model that successfully scaled enterprise-wide initiatives to ensure consistent practices across the system, and is well known for its work with innovative, diversified care-delivery partnerships. CHI brings a diverse geographic footprint with proven clinical service lines and home-health capabilities as well as successful partnerships in research and education.

The new organization seeks to become a national platform for innovation and research. This platform would capitalize on existing intellectual property and research capabilities, positioning the new organization as an attractive partner for other entrepreneurial organizations. Dignity Health and CHI have an established track record of successful partnerships and affiliations on initiatives spanning telehealth, micro-hospitals, and precision medicine.

In September 2016, the two systems formed Precision Medicine Alliance LLC (PMA), which will create the largest community-based precision medicine program in the country. A precision oncology program is being implemented in three service areas, and four-to-six more service area launches are planned across the country in the next 12 months. The program’s objective is to be available at nearly 150 CHI and Dignity Health and care centers across the U.S., serving approximately 12 million patients annually.

Dignity Health’s Board of Directors and Sponsorship Council and CHI’s Board of Stewardship Trustees have approved the combination. The deal is anticipated to close in the second half of 2018 and is subject to federal, state, and church approvals.

Further information is available at: www.AdvancingHealthCareTogether.org.

About Catholic Health Initiatives Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit, faith-based health system formed in 1996 through the consolidation of four Catholic health systems, expresses its mission each day by creating and nurturing healthy communities in the hundreds of sites across the nation where it provides care. One of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems, Englewood, Colorado-based CHI operates in 17 states and comprises 100 hospitals, including three academic health centers and major teaching hospitals as well as 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home health agencies; living communities; and other facilities and services. With $15.5 billion in revenue and approximately $21.9 billion in assets in FY17, CHI provided more than $2.1 billion in charity care, community benefit, and the unpaid cost of government programs. For more information, please visit our website at CatholicHealthInitiatives.org. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About Dignity Health Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a 22-state network of more than 9,000 physicians and other advanced practice clinicians and 63,000 employees. The organization was formed in 1986 when two congregations of the Sisters of Mercy joined their 10 hospitals together to form Catholic Healthcare West, which now includes over 400 care centers including hospitals, urgent and occupational care, imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics under the name Dignity Health. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to those who are poor and undeserved. In FY17, Dignity Health had $12.9 billion in revenue and $17.4 billion in assets, and provided approximately $2.6 billion in charity care, community benefit, and the unpaid cost of government programs. For more information, please visit our website at DignityHealth.org. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Pictured: Kendra Krueger (AHA), Shila Thorson (NDDOH), Dr. Jeff Sather (NDDoH), Mylynn Tufte (NDDoH), Karalee Harper (AHA), Alana McClennan (CHI), and Dan Schaeffer (Metro Ambulance).

BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) received a $97,964 from the American Heart Association (AHA) at a news conference on Thursday, Nov. 2. The funds were made possible by donors who contributed to the Impact Foundation during Giving Hearts Day.

The funds will go to support Cardiac Ready Communities across the state by ensuring rural areas are equipped to handle cardiac emergencies.

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By: Warren Abrahamson (NewsDakota.com)

BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) will be awarded a $97,964 check from the American Heart Association (AHA) at a news conference on Thursday, November 2nd, at 10:00 a.m. in the Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) building.

Representatives from the AHA and the North Dakota Cardiac Task Forces will emphasize the impact of the timely intervention for heart and stroke events.

The following speakers will participate in the news conference:

Karalee Harper, State Advocacy Committee Chair, AHA
Dr. Jeff Sather, State EMS Medical Director
Dan Schaeffer, Metro Ambulance
Mylynn Tufte, State Health Officer
Alana McClennan, CHI Mercy Health – Valley City

Members of the media may attend the news conference at the Emergency Preparedness and Response building, located at located at 1720 Burlington Drive in Bismarck or connect to the press conference by dialing 855.235.2064.

For more information about the event, contact Jennifer Skjod with the North Dakota Department of Health, at 701.328.1665.

Jamestown is working on becoming a cardiac ready community as well. Click here to read more.

Sarah Lerud stands next to her painting of her great-great-great-great grandmother’s farmhouse in Norway. The exhibit of her pastels and oils are on exhibit at the Mercy Gallery located between CHI Mercy Health and Sanford Health in Valley City. Photo and story submitted to NewsDakota.com

By: Steve Urness (NewsDakota.com)

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Area artist, Sarah Lerud’s paintings are on display at the Mercy Art Gallery located at the gallery space in CHI Mercy Health leading to Sanford Health.

Spokeswoman Sharon Buhr said Valley City, Washington, D.C., and Norway are the three main themes expressed through her work. Lerud is fascinated with the memories of places and wants her paintings to express the feelings of these sites. She uses pastels and oils to transform her thoughts and memories into color while representing architectural buildings, monuments and statues.

Included in her Valley City work are the Hi-Line Bridge, the front yard where she grew up, her grandmother’s home near Marion and artwork by her son, Jack.

Buhr said the Washington, D.C. pieces reflect on her time living in Washington, DC and visiting the monuments with her family. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is the monument held dearest to her heart because of the influence her Vietnam Veteran dad has had on her. Her dad lost his sight along with two friends standing on either side of him in combat. The etchings of the names from the Wall in her paintings are those friends’ names.

The Norway artwork echoes her time spent in or near Oslo, Norway with her brother.  The Oslo pieces include the Norwegian Parliament building, The Norwegian National Theater, the Theatercafeen and sculptures from the famous Vigeland Park.  The barn, the front door, and the church are from her great-great-great-great grandmother’s farm and home town.

Lerud is the librarian at the Valley City Junior-Senior High School. The artwork will be on display now through the end of December of 2017.

Awards recipients pictured at the North Dakota State Stroke & Cardiac Conference held Sept. 25-26 in Bismarck.

BISMARCK, N.D. – The North Dakota Stroke System of Care Task Force recently awarded several critical access hospitals for demonstrated quality excellence in stroke care. The task force recognized the awardees through data collected from hospitals by the North Dakota State Stroke Registry.

Rapid-response treatment for stroke offers the most significant chance for recovery. According to Shila Thorson, North Dakota State Stroke Coordinator, “Once a stroke occurs, the goal is to lessen potentially debilitating effects, prevent further damage to the brain, and reduce the medical and physical complications following a stroke.”

The North Dakota Department of Health recognizes the following organizations for supporting the exceptional efforts necessary to foster better outcomes for stroke care in the state of North Dakota:

• Pre-Notification of Suspected Stroke by EMS Award ─Mercy Hospital, Valley City
• Dysphagia Screen Award ─Heart of America Medical Center, Rugby
• National Institute of Health Stroke Scale Documentation Award ─Southwest Healthcare Service, Bowman
• IV rt-PA Arrive by 2 Hour, Treat by 3 Hour Award ─Tioga Medical Center, Tioga
• Door to CT in Less Than 25 Minutes Award ─Mercy Medical Center, Williston
• Time to Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy 60 minutes Award ─West River Regional Medical Center, Hettinger
• North Dakota Critical Access Hospital Quality Measure Set Award ─Jamestown Regional Medical Center, Jamestown

Also recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for excellence in care were the following Primary Stroke Centers:

• Get With The Guidelines: Stroke GOLD PLUS Achievement Award
  • Altru Health System, Grand Forks
  • CHI St. Alexius Health, Bismarck
  • Essentia Health, Fargo
  • Trinity Health, Minot
• Get With The Guidelines: Stroke SILVER PLUS Achievement Award
  • Sanford Medical Center, Bismarck

For more information, contact Shila Thorson, North Dakota Department of Health, at 701.328.4569.

Click here to purchase Festival of Trees Tickets!

By: Steve Urness (NewsDakota.com)

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) -Patients at CHI Mercy Health have access to the latest computed tomography (CT) diagnostic technology made possible through a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Rural Healthcare Programs.

Helmsley awarded CHI Mercy Health $400,000 for a new 64-slice CT scanner in April 2017. CT scanners provide essential diagnostic images of structures inside the body. The new scanner produces high-quality images, allowing medical staff to quickly determine the health status and course of treatment for patients in this area.

CHI Mercy Health Vice President of Clinical Services Camille Settelmeyer talked about the advantages of having this new CT scanner in this community.

Read Full Story at Newsdakota.com

By: Steve Urness (NewsDakota.com)

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City mayor Dave Carlsrud declared October domestic violence awareness month during a proclamation made at the city commission meeting on October 3rd.

Show your support for victims and survivors of domestic violence by attending the Abused Persons Outreach Center fundraiser supper on Friday, October 6th from 4:30pm to 7pm at the VFW Club in Valley City.

They’ll be serving roast beef or chicken dinners. Ice cream from Midwest Dairy Association.

Buy $1 tickets for a chance to win a prize basket. $10 for adults, $5 for kids under 12 and preschoolers eat free.

The funds raised from this event will be used to help local victims of domestic violence and survivors.

L to R APOC director Kasey Skalicky, CHI Mercy Health’s Stephanie Mayfield and Valley City Mayor Dave Carlsud.

By: Steve Urness (NewsDakota.com)

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – CHI Mercy Health employees are giving back to the community by donating to the Barnes County Food Pantry.

CHI Mercy Health’s “Pay it Forward” Project for the Barnes County Food Pantry was held from August 30th to September 21st and donations were collected in the front lobby of the hospital.

Keith Heuser, President, and CHI Mercy Health said,  “we are proud to be a part of this community and are happy to be able to give back.”

Baskets collected by employees of CHI Mercy Health in the lobby of the hospital. Photos submitted to NewsDakota.com

CHI Mercy Health donations were delivered to Barnes County Food Pantry on September 22. L to R: Stephanie Mayfield, CHI Mercy Health, Joseph Narloch, Barnes County Food Pantry, Debra Hochhalter, CHI Mercy Health, Roman Villarin, Barnes County Food Pantry and JoAnn Korf, Barnes County Food Pantry.