St. Joseph Health System announces merger with Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare

Rebuffed in its bid to take over Louisville’s University Hospital, Catholic Health Initatives announced today that its St. Joseph Health System had merged with Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, effective retroactively to Jan. 1. Gov. Steve Beshear rejected the original merger plan because of University Hospital’s public status and the proposed control of CHI, which follows Catholic health directives.

The new organization is called KentuckyOne Health and is headed by Ruth W. Brinkley, as president and chief executive officer. She is a former executive at CHI and Ascension Health. The organization “includes hospitals, clinics, specialty institutes, home health agencies, satellite primary care centers, and physician groups with more than 80 locations, 2,500 staff physicians and more than 13,000 employees across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana,” CHI said in a press release. It said it will invest $320 million into the merger.

“As part of KentuckyOne Health, historically Jewish facilities will remain Jewish,” the release said. “Historically Catholic facilities will remain Catholic.” Dr. Gerald Temes, chair of Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services, said in the release, “We have had a mutually beneficial relationship with Catholic Health Initiatives for the last six years. We’re confident this is the right direction for the Jewish Hospital organization.” (Read more)