Trinity Health to acquire MercyOne after jointly operating with CommonSpirit for decades (2024)

Dive Brief:

• Trinity Health signed a deal with CommonSpirit Health to become the sole owner of Iowa-based MercyOne, the Catholic health systems announced Tuesday.
• CommonSpirit will no longer jointly operate the regional health system with Trinity, which will acquire all of MercyOne's facilities and assets as part of the deal.
• The transaction is expected to be completed by the summer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dive Insight:

After months of review, Trinity and CommonSpirit decided it was better for MercyOne to operate under a single entity, Trinity Health, according to Tuesday's statement.

The decision comes 24 years after Trinity and Catholic Health Initiatives first agreed to jointly operate the health system that provides services throughout Iowa. After a 2019 merger, Catholic Health Initiatives later became CommonSpirit Health.

A sole parent is the "best path forward," the systems said.

MercyOne will benefit from "unified strategies" and one set of services, including a single electronic health record, the statement said.

"We strongly believe this transition to become a full member of the Trinity Health family will result in a stronger, more cohesive health system better able to offer a convenient and personalized circle of care for all we serve," Bob Ritz, CEO of MercyOne, said in a statement.

In Trinity Health, MercyOne will be a part of a nonprofit health system that stretches across 25 states with more than $20 billion in revenue and 88 hospitals.

For CommonSpirit, Iowa is its smallest division, according to an annual report for the year ended June 30. Of its nine divisions — defined either as a single state or region — the Iowa division generated less than $1.2 billion in revenue for 2021, the lowest operating revenue amount compared to CommonSpirit's other regions. The Southwest region generated the most at $7.1 billion in revenue.

After the deal closes, CommonSpirit will still have facilities in Iowa, operating under the CHI Health brand, Chad Burns, a spokesperson for the health system, told Healthcare Dive.

Overall, CommonSpirit's operations span 21 states with 140 hospitals and about $33 billion in revenue.