Regional News/Midwest: SSM Health Ministries will be new sponsorship body for SSM Health Care and other news

The sponsorship of SSM Health Care will be transferred to a new body from the Franciscan Sisters of Mary because the nuns in the congregation are aging and their leadership roles in the St. Louis-based system are waning.

The new sponsoring body, SSM Health Ministries, will be responsible for protecting SSM's Roman Catholic identity and serve as its liaison to the Vatican, according to a news release. Its six members will also serve on SSM's board of directors.

The transfer comes two years after St. Louis-based SSM's longtime CEO, Sister Mary Jean Ryan, stepped down from the role she had held for 25 years. Her retirement further reduced the number of Catholic nuns running U.S. health systems.

The Franciscan Sisters of Mary founded the now 15-hospital system, but they are getting older, and the number of nuns serving in healthcare leadership roles has been steadily decreasing.

“There will come a time when there will be no one to take over the responsibility,” said Sandy Ashby, a spokeswoman for the congregation. “As they age, they have no one to step into their footsteps.”

The new sponsoring body will include three lay people as well as three representatives from Franciscan Sisters of Mary.

SSM, meanwhile, has been expanding. This year, the system added both Dean Health System, a large multispecialty physician group and health plan based in Wisconsin, and Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Mo.

An SSM spokesman said the sponsorship transfer does not signal a change in strategy for the system, as was the case with San Francisco-based Dignity Health.

Two of Wisconsin's leading health systems, Aurora Health Care and UW Health, are in discussions that could lead to a merger or a jointly operated accountable care organization—or not.

Representatives for UW Health and Aurora Health Care said “nothing was off the table” in terms of how the two systems might work together. At this point, there is no timetable in place to agree on a strategy, which could include looser forms of collaboration.

There are many possibilities that do “not involve merging assets, and that's likely where the conversation is going to start,” UW spokeswoman Lisa Brunette said when asked to provide details on the discussions. Other avenues they might explore include population health initiatives and integrating use of their electronic health records systems, Aurora Health, spokesman Mike Brophy said.

Based in Milwaukee, Aurora is the largest healthcare system in Wisconsin with 15 hospitals, 172 clinic sites and more than 70 pharmacies throughout 31 counties. For 2012, the system reported revenue of $4.1 billion and an operating margin of $138 million.

Madison-based UW Health includes the 504-bed University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The hospital and clinics reported revenue of $1.2 billion for fiscal 2012, ended June 30, with an operating margin of $127 million.

Both organizations (Aurora through its Lake Shore Medical Clinic) are participating in Medicare's shared-savings program for ACOs, and Aurora has ACO contracts with Aetna and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Eighteen months after abandoning a deal rather than fight the Federal Trade Commission, Rockford (Ill.) Health System has an agreement to be acquired by a new partner: Cadence Health, a two-hospital system west of Chicago.

Rockford worked with consulting firm Navigant for the past year and selected Cadence among nine bidders after narrowing a broader field of suitors. “We had a great deal of interest, probably more interest than we anticipated—and we anticipated a lot of interest,” said Gary Kaatz, Rockford Health's president and CEO. “We loved their culture focused on performance.”

The union would expand Cadence's reach to more than 40 locations in the region, as well as increase its clinical offerings and improve efficiencies in delivering care, according to a news release. Kaatz said Rockford is seeking a larger footprint to benefit from economies of scale and develop the framework for population health management. Terms were not

disclosed.

In April 2012, Rockford walked away from its plans to join OSF HealthCare System, which operates one of two other hospitals in the northern Illinois town. The decision came after a federal judge granted the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction blocking the transaction pending the outcome of the government's antitrust challenge.

The new combination is similarly subject to regulatory approval.

However, Kaatz said, winning antitrust clearance for the deal with Peoria-based OSF was a bigger challenge because both systems operate in the same market. “We are not in that situation with Cadence,” he said.

The network board of directors for Alegent Creighton Health/Catholic Health Initiatives voted to establish a new academic medical center on the Bergan Mercy Medical Center campus in Omaha, Neb.

The new facility, estimated to take two to three years to complete at a cost of $145 million to $157 million, will include a Level 1 trauma program and freestanding emergency center, primary-care, specialty-care and wellness services. According to system officials, the center will provide additional clinical, research and training opportunities for Creighton University's medical students.

Alegent acquired Creighton University's medical center in a $63 million transaction completed in September 2012, creating the Alegent Creighton Health system. In November 2012, Catholic Health Initiatives became the sole owner of the 11-hospital system through what was estimated to be a $500 million to $550 million deal.