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Last December, an agreement bringing Carondelet Health
System and Ascension Health together was finalized. The combined
ministry of these Catholic health care systems now includes 67 acute
care hospitals in 20 states and the District of Columbia. While
this "strength in numbers" brings more clout in political
activism and financial advantages, patients and employees of Carondelet
Health won't notice much difference.
"Ascension Health believes healthcare should be provided locally
and it should be controlled locally," says Matt Maguire, interim
CEO of Carondelet Health. "I've been very impressed with the
dedication and commitment to values I've seen from the employees
of Carondelet Health."
Ascension Health is a fairly young system whose sponsors have a
very long tradition of providing quality Catholic health care. In
1999 the four provinces of the Daughters of Charity and the Sisters
of St. Joseph of Nazareth united their healthcare organizations
to form Ascension Health. It was designed to welcome additional
religious sponsors and their ministries into the organization. The
sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet become the sixth sponsor of
Ascension Health.
"This partnership expands the ministries of Ascension Health
not only in numbers, but also geographically," explains Maguire.
"With the addition of the Carondelet Health System, Ascension
Health now extends almost to the west coast. Previously, it only
went as far west as Texas." Maguire adds that Carondelet Health
is a major player with the larger system. It ranks 12th in operating
revenues and 10th in profitability.
"This merger was a terrific opportunity for both Carondelet
Health and Ascension Health," says Maguire. "Both systems
had other options, but the striking similarities of the goals and
the missions of the organizations added with the benefits that come
with the partnership made it a perfect fit."
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