Dive Brief:
CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason Health System, two Washington state health systems, will now operate as one, under the name, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health systems, is the parent company of CHI Franciscan.
The combined group will operate as a nonprofit entity in Washington and is now a subsidiary of CommonSpirit, according to the agreement, effective Jan. 1.
Together the two will operate 11 hospitals and nearly 300 sites of care. The chief executive role will be split, at least initially, between the system's two leaders; Gary Kaplan, former CEO of Virginia Mason and Ketul Patel, the former leader of CHI Franciscan. Patel does have an additional title, president of the Pacific Northwest for CommonSpirit.