Erin Asprec, Memorial Hermann's current chief transformation officer, will oversee the Houston-based system's 17 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient clinics.

There were 85 hospital transactions last year, which marked the second lowest total since 2009, Ponder & Co.'s data show.

The $45 million pledge will feed into a new, $750 million California fund that providers could use to pay rents, subsidize affordable housing or help board and care homes.

Shannon Sartin, former director of digital service at the CMS, said she will return to the agency as chief technology officer of its Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.