Aspirus, Ascension finalize seven-hospital deal

Aspirus Health has finalized a deal Ascension Wisconsin to acquire seven hospitals and 21 physician clinics in the Badger State.

The transaction also includes air and ground medical transport services in north and central Wisconsin. Aspirus will take on 2,700 new healthcare professionals and other employees from Ascension. The deal closed Sunday.

Aspirus Health, a non-profit health system based in Wausau, Wisconsin, didn't disclose the deal's value.

"This acquisition will help Aspirus provide better and more connected care to thousands and thousands more people in our region," President and CEO Matthew Heywood said in a news release. "These new resources provide us the strength to improve and expand the care we deliver in northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula."

Prior to Ascension deal, Aspirus Health had 11,000 employees at 13 hospitals and 75 clinics in Wisconsin and four hospitals in Michigan. The acquisitions will expand Aspirus' foothold in rural communities in northern Wisconsin. Ascension's 146-hospital, 19-state system is one of the largest in the nation. Before selling the Wisconsin facilities to Aspirus, the company had 24 hospitals campuses and more than 100 healthcare facilities in the state.

Ascension ended its fiscal 2020 in the red with a $639.4 million operating loss, or a -2.5% margin.