Dignity Health (formerly Catholic Healthcare West ) is a California -based not-for-profit public-benefit corporation that operated hospitals and ancillary care facilities in three states. Dignity Health was the fifth-largest hospital system in the nation and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in California.
28-593: Formerly a Catholic institution, the organization went independent in 2012 and adopted its new name. In February 2019, Dignity Health merged with Catholic Health Initiatives , becoming CommonSpirit Health . Its headquarters are located in the China Basin Landing building in San Francisco . Catholic Healthcare West was founded in 1986, when the Sisters of Mercy Burlingame Regional Community and
56-434: A wrongful death lawsuit by arguing that unborn fetuses should not be classed as persons . This contradicted Catholic doctrine established by Pope John Paul II . When the case was submitted to the three bishops of Colorado for review, they issued a joint statement which reiterated their commitment to defending human dignity against attacks. Ashland Community Hospital (Oregon) Asante Ashland Community Hospital
84-434: A Catholic institution after a procedure was performed in 2009 to end a pregnancy to save a woman’s life. In a public statement, Bishop Olmsted said the procedure was in contrast to a direct abortion , which is in direct violation of The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services . In a statement, St. Joseph’s President Linda Hunt said the hospital would comply with Olmsted’s decision, but she defended
112-476: A definitive agreement to transfer ownership of Mercy Hot Springs hospital and medical group to CHI St. Vincent. In June 2014, CHI St. Luke's Health Memorial of Lufkin, Texas joined CHI. In October 2014, CHI St. Alexius Health of Bismarck, North Dakota becomes a direct affiliate of CHI, adding St. Alexius Medical Center and two critical access hospitals to the system. In November 2014, Sylvania Franciscan Health becomes part of CHI, adding St. Joseph Health System in
140-555: A nearly 20% increase over the previous year - for programs and services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. Charity care and community benefit totaled more than $ 1.7 billion with the inclusion of the unpaid costs of Medicare. The health system, which generated revenues of almost $ 3.9 billion (FY 2018), has total assets of $ 5.1 billion. CHI practices shareholder activism by purchasing shares in publicly traded corporations and engaging with corporate management on environmental, social and corporate governance issues. Following
168-481: A stronger financial base for the hospital. Ashland's city council approved the transfer to Asante in June 2013. The hospital has 49 beds for inpatients , a diagnostic and surgery center with imaging equipment, a laboratory, and equipment for respiratory testing and surgery. Outpatient services cover internal medicine, family medicine, endocrinology, general surgery, orthopedic surgery and wound care. The hospital
196-607: Is a hospital in Ashland , Oregon , United States . Founded in 1907, it is part of the Asante Health System. In 2012, it explored an affiliation with Dignity Health , with the latter stopping negotiations in October 2012 over some resistance to the plan. On November 15, 2012, Ashland Community Hospital chose to partner with Asante , the owner of Three Rivers Medical Center and Rogue Regional Medical Center, to build
224-572: Is later re-branded as CHI Health at Home. In May 2013, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, a six-hospital system based in Houston, Texas , joined CHI as St. Luke's Health System. The organization included outpatient clinics in Houston and affiliations with Baylor College of Medicine , Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Texas Heart Institute , Texas Children's Hospital, and MD Anderson Cancer Center . On April 1, 2014, Mercy Health of Hot Springs, Arkansas signed
252-626: Is no denying it." Facing increasing community opposition, Dignity Health ceased negotiations without explanation on October 30, 2012. Dignity Health was included by California Attorney General Kamala Harris on the antitrust investigation, launched in September 2012, into whether growing consolidation in the state's hospitals and physician groups was driving up the health care costs. As of summer 2018, Dignity Health did not provide many services considered routine by non-religious providers, including some emergency procedures. Dignity Health has cited
280-463: Is one of the nation's largest health systems, operating in 18 states and comprising 104 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals and 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; and other facilities that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. In fiscal year 2014, CHI provided $ 910 million in charity care and community benefit -
308-619: The Brazos Valley region of Texas; Franciscan Living Communities in Kentucky and Ohio; and three hospitals in eastern Ohio to the system In January 2016, Brazosport Regional Health System in Lake Jackson, Texas joins CHI St. Luke's Health, Houston. In December 2017, Dignity Health and CHI announce a definitive agreement to merge. CHI has expanded since 2011, entering new states and expanding in existing ones. CHI also acquired
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#1732779972336336-702: The Catholic Church . In 2012, the company's corporate governance structure changed, moving it out of the Catholic Church's purview and resulting in a name change to Dignity Health. Adeptus Health partnered with Dignity Health to establish the Dignity Health Arizona General Hospital in Laveen, Arizona . In 2018, Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives received approval from the Catholic Church , through
364-816: The Catholic Health Association of the United States , defended St. Joseph’s decision to terminate the pregnancy. "They had been confronted with a heartbreaking situation," she said in a formal statement. "They carefully evaluated the patient’s situation and correctly applied the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services to it, saving the only life that was possible to save." In 2012, trustees of Ashland Community Hospital in Ashland, Oregon, invited Dignity Health to acquire it for debt. Community members raised concerns about
392-826: The United States . In January 2019, the KentuckyOne Health system decided to transition to the legacy of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Lexington's first hospital. Focusing on central and southern Kentucky, it is one of the largest health organizations in the Commonwealth of Kentucky . KentuckyOne Health system hospitals and clinics in the Louisville area was later purchased by the University of Louisville's UofL Health . Colorado-based CHI
420-555: The Vatican , to merge. The merger was completed, on February 1, 2019, under a new name, CommonSpirit Health , forming the second-largest nonprofit hospital chain in the United States . Dignity Health was the official health care provider of the San Francisco Giants . The Board of Directors was responsible for approving major decisions affecting Dignity Health’s health care business, such as long-range strategic plans,
448-619: The "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services" as its guideline in approving or refusing medical procedures. That document is prepared by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops , which is not a medical organization. A particular controversy results from Dignity Health's non-Catholic marketing style, and unclear representations of which facilities are and are not considered Catholic. In August 2024, Dignity Health and Mercy San Juan Medical Center were sued for "malicious and outrageous" conduct by
476-575: The 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting , in example; Catholic Health Initiatives was the lead filer, co-filing with the Adrian Dominican Sisters , of a shareholder resolution asking firearms manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. to report to investors regarding the steps they are taking to reduce gun violence . Ruger opposed the resolution. BlackRock , the world's largest asset manager and Ruger's largest investor, as well as Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis ,
504-677: The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Health System in Nazareth, Kentucky consolidated with Catholic Health Initiatives. In March 1998, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Hankinson, North Dakota transferred sponsorship of a hospital and eight clinics to CHI. In September 2010, Consolidated Health Services, a home care service provider with 30 locations in Kentucky , Ohio , and Indiana, joined CHI. Home health
532-521: The Sisters of Mercy Auburn Regional Community merged their health care ministries into one organization. In 2010, Dignity Health, Blue Shield of California , and Hill Physicians Medical Group formed an Accountable Care Organization that covers 41,000 individuals in the California Public Employees Retirement System ( CalPERS ). From the time of its founding until 2012, the company was an official ministry of
560-469: The actions of the hospital staff, stating, "If we are presented with a situation in which a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life, our first priority is to save both patients. If that is not possible, we will always save the life we can save, and that is what we did in this case. Morally, ethically, and legally, we simply cannot stand by and let someone die whose life we might be able to save." The story made national headlines. Sister Carol Keehan , president of
588-512: The allocation of capital, joint ventures, and major acquisitions and sales. Dignity Health's Board of Directors are: Although Dignity Health is not a Catholic institution, the organization owned and operated 24 Catholic hospitals. While overall fiscal responsibility for these hospitals rests with the Board of Directors, certain reserve rights are still held by the religious orders that founded them. The Sponsorship Council comprised sisters from each of
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#1732779972336616-463: The family of Jessie Peterson. They had been told in April 2023 that Peterson had checked out of the hospital, when in fact she had died in the care of Mercy San Juan. The hospital had then shipped Peterson's body to a storage facility, and did not inform her family. The family did not learn of Peterson's death until April 2024. When Peterson's body was recovered, it was too decayed to determine if her death
644-412: The health insurer QualChoice, but was unsuccessful in its ownership; QualChoice is currently for sale. In 2018, Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives received a merger approval from the Catholic Church , through the Vatican . Merged on February 1, 2019, as CommonSpirit Health , the new company formed as the largest Catholic health system, and the second-largest nonprofit hospital chain, in
672-672: The possible takeover, pointing to restrictions in Dignity's Statement of Common Values that might mean that the hospital would no longer offer abortion services, or euthanasia services under Oregon's 1997 Death With Dignity Act . Asked by Ashland mayor John Stromberg if the Statement of Common Values could be modified, Dignity Vice-President for Ethics and Justice Education Carol Bayley told community members, "As far as loosening it, don't hold out hope. We have our feet in Catholic mud, there
700-626: The six Catholic religious communities that first opened each of the Catholic hospitals owned by Dignity Health. Each community selected one woman to act as one of the six members of the Sponsorship Council. The six Catholic religious communities were represented by: On December 21, 2010, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix declared that a Catholic Healthcare West hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center , could no longer call itself
728-418: The two most important shareholder advisory firms in the United States, supported the resolution. At Ruger's annual meeting on May 9, 2018, 69 percent of shareholders voted in favor and Ruger agreed to heed the resolution. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence called the vote a "first-of-its-kind victory." In January 2013, the hospital's defense lawyers provoked controversy when they defended against
756-563: Was one of the United States ' largest healthcare systems. In February 2019, CHI merged with Dignity Health , forming CommonSpirit Health . CHI began operations in 1996. The founding systems were the Catholic Health Corporation of Omaha, Nebraska , the Franciscan Health System of Aston, Pennsylvania , and the Sisters of Charity Health Care Systems of Cincinnati, Ohio . In September 1997,
784-462: Was the result of medical malpractice. Dignity Health operates 40 hospitals—24 Catholic and 15 non-Catholic: Catholic Health Initiatives Catholic Health Initiatives ( CHI ) was a national Catholic healthcare system, with headquarters in Englewood, Colorado . CHI was a nonprofit , faith-based health system formed, in 1996, through the consolidation of three Catholic health systems. It
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