UAB Health to acquire Ascension St. Vincent's for $450M

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Authority signed an agreement to acquire Ascension St. Vincent's for $450 million, the nonprofit systems announced Tuesday.

UAB Health would acquire St. Vincent's five hospitals, a specialty care and rehabilitation center, a freestanding emergency department, imaging centers and clinics that are part of Ascension Medical Group under the proposed deal, according to a news release.

Related: Ascension says personal data may be compromised in cyberattack

The transaction is expected to close in the fall, pending regulatory approval.

Ascension approached UAB Health about a potential deal in late 2023, UAB CEO Dawn Bulgarella said Tuesday at a special meeting of the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees. The systems formed a "strategic alliance" in 2020 and were already partnering on various services, including neonatal, anesthesia, emergency and surgical care.

Bulgarella said UAB is hopeful most, if not all, of Ascension St. Vincent's roughly 5,000 employees will stay in their current roles.

"This is the right thing to do for the people we serve. We firmly believe this will give healthcare in Alabama a more sustainable future," Bulgarella said at the meeting.

A spokesperson for UAB Health said the system also hopes most of Ascension St. Vincent's leadership team will remain in place. The health systems did not provide additional details on role changes for that team, including for Ascension St. Vincent's CEO Jason Alexander, who took the helm in 2017.

Executives were not available for interviews Tuesday.

At a Tuesday press conference, Bulgarella said UAB would make new financial investments into Ascension St. Vincent’s clinical services and other infrastructure, but she did not provide further details. The St. Vincent’s name would be co-branded with UAB, she added.

UAB Health is a more than $6 billion system that operates 17 hospitals across Alabama.

St. Louis-based Ascension, which is recovering from a May 8 cyberattack, is looking to shed facilities in other markets as well. In March, Ascension signed a definitive agreement to sell three northern Michigan hospitals and an ambulatory surgery center to MyMichigan Health. The health system operates 139 hospitals in 18 states.