Regional News/West: Providence Health takes on St. John's Health Center

Providence Health & Services, Renton, Wash., has added another hospital to its group, assuming sponsorship of St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.

The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Denver, transferred sponsorship of the 234-bed hospital March 1. It will be Providence's sixth hospital in the Los Angeles area, to be renamed Providence St. John's Health Center.

The agreement includes the John Wayne Cancer Institute, which has been affiliated with St. John's since 1991.

SCL entered into exclusive discussions with Providence in May, and the deal has received approval from the California attorney general as well as the Vatican.

St. John's has a staff of 1,600 employees as well as 1,000 physicians.

The deal marks the second transaction Providence has disclosed in the past month. On Feb. 3, it said it intends to affiliate with Pacific Medical Centers, a multispecialty medical group in the Greater Seattle area. Pacific Medical, a secular organization, will be folded into Providence's Western HealthConnect division, where it won't be bound to follow Roman Catholic doctrines for care.

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