By Heather Landi

CommonSpirit Health officially sealed the deal on picking up five hospitals and 35 medical group clinics from Steward Health Care, the health systems has said.

The deal, announced in February, also includes imaging and urgent care centers, other outpatient ventures and a clinically integrated network of providers. Colorado-based Centura Health will manage all the operations.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed in the announcement. However, earnings released by CommonSpirit back in February listed a gross purchase price of US$685 million “plus certain working capital adjustments,” staff writer Dave Muoio reported.

Steward said in a press release that the strategic transaction allows the health system to “reinvest in its nationally recognized model of providing value-based care in communities across the other regions it operates.”

“We are pleased to have found the right partner for our Utah hospitals,” said regional president for Steward Health Care, Brian Dunn,  in a statement. “We are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished in Utah since acquiring the system in 2017, and we want to extend our deep thanks to our colleagues whose commitment and excellence has made a difference to patients and the local community every day since.”

Based in Dallas, Steward now operates 33 hospitals across Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The acquisition includes Davis Hospital and Medical Center, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Jordan Valley Medical Center, Jordan Valley Medical Center-West Valley Campus and Mountain Point Medical Center and associated clinics and outpatient centers.

Several years ago, Steward unsuccessfully tried to sell off the same five hospitals to HCA Healthcare. That deal, announced in September 2021, was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission due to antitrust concerns and called off in June 2022.

CommonSpirit operates 145 hospitals and more than 2,200 care sites across 23 states. The organization said in a press release it is changing the hospitals and clinics to the Holy Cross brand as a tribute to the health system’s Catholic heritage.

The health system also will bring in more than 3,000 Utah employees from Steward Health Care.

In an announcement back in February, Centura and CommonSpirit touched on the strategic benefits of the organizations’ push into Utah—namely a 3.4 million-person population that is growing and, “similar to Colorado,” filled with residents who “are active in their personal health and wellbeing,” the organizations wrote.

Based in Centennial, Colorado, Centura was among the state’s largest health systems with more than 21,000 employees and over 6,000 physicians.

Upon the deal’s close, Centura plans to engage community, hospital and clinic leadership to “build a strategic market plan that enables new clinical care options for patients and explores new opportunities to have a greater impact on the future of health care across the three-state region,” the organizations said.