Becker's Hospital Review

12 CFO / FINANCE CommonSpirit, AdventHealth to end Centura Health partnership By Kelly Gooch C hicago-based CommonSpirit Health and Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth will end their Centura Health joint venture, with each health system directly managing their respective care sites in Colorado and western Kansas that comprise Centura Health. Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives and AdventHealth formed Centura Health in 1996. Catholic Health Initiatives has since merged with San Francisco- based Dignity Health to form CommonSpirit Health. While the joint venture has been a strong partnership for 27 years, it "has reached its natural maturity," the organizations said in a Feb. 14 news release. AdventHealth will operate and manage five hospitals: Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colo.; Castle Rock (Colo.) Adventist Hospital; Littleton (Colo.) Adventist Hospital; Parker (Colo.) Adventist Hospital; and Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver. The organization will also operate and manage affiliated clinics in Colorado. CommonSpirit Health will operate and manage the following 15 hospitals and their affiliated clinics in Colorado and western Kansas. • Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital (Ulysses, Kan.) • Longmont (Colo.) United Hospital • OrthoColorado Hospital (Lakewood) • Mercy Hospital (Durango, Colo.) • Penrose Hospital (Colorado Springs, Colo.) • St. Anthony Hospital (Lakewood, Colo.) • St. Anthony North Hospital (Westminster, Colo.) • St. Anthony Summit Hospital (Frisco, Colo.) • St. Catherine Hospital-Dodge City (Kan.) • St. Catherine Hospital-Garden City (Kan.) • St. Elizabeth Hospital-Fort Morgan (Colo.) • St. Mary-Corwin Hospital (Pueblo, Colo.) • St. Francis Hospital (Colorado Springs, Colo.) • St. Francis Hospital-Interquest (Colorado Springs, Colo.) (opening summer 2023) • St. Thomas More Hospital (Cañon City, Colo.) CommonSpirit Health and AdventHealth said Centennial, Colo.-based Centura Health will continue in its management role of the hospitals, physician clinics and other care sites during the transition. CommonSpirit Health operates 138 hospitals and more than 2,000 care sites in 21 states. AdventHealth has more than 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in nine states. Centura Health is a 20-hospital organization. n "More than ever, healthcare administration requires strong, business- savvy leaders who can manage the complexities and challenges the industry is facing — and retaining top talent requires a competitive compensation package. As a nonprofit health system, we don't have the luxury of providing stock options and other typical corporate perks. We're proud of how our executive leadership team, including our CEO, strategically led this entire region through a global pandemic without any layoffs or rural facility closures. We have continued to elevate and expand top quality services and access focused on providing all individuals with the opportunity to live their healthiest lives." Atrium Health also pointed to the more than $138 million it invested during 2022 into employees, beyond their previous or regular salaries. "is included base-pay increases, market adjustments and other awards. Over the last two months, we have invested an additional $271 million in base-pay increases and incentives. Additionally, with a commitment to every community we serve, Atrium Health provided $2.46 billion in 2022 in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits." In its statement, Cone Health noted it "is a large, complex organization with more than 13,000 employees and revenue of more than $2.5 billion. To compete for and retain executive talent, our compensation packages must match those of similar-sized organizations. We compare very favorably with other organizations. Our CEO pay would not make the Triad Business Journal top 25 CEO pay list — despite Cone Health being one of the area's largest employers." Cone Health also said its executive pay, which is reviewed and set by its board, is determined partially by meeting measurable corporate goals, which are tied to such areas as clinical quality, service to patients, operational performance and workforce engagement. "To claim that CEO pay was unchanged while pay of doctors, nurses and others who risked their lives to care for others during the pandemic was cut is not the story at Cone Health," the health system added. "All executives shared the pain from director-level cuts of 10 percent to the CEO, who took a 35 percent hit in pay during the worst of the pandemic." Cone Health also disputed any contention that federal COVID-19 relief funds were used to float CEO pay. e health system said the money helped pay for the opening of a COVID-19 hospital as well as tests, vaccinations and treatments, among other services. "Cone Health's record of recruiting and retaining healthcare talent leading to nationally leading quality works," the health system said. "We have successfully brought in the high-caliber leadership needed to meet the changing and challenging healthcare needs of consumers in the communities we serve for almost 70 years." e North Carolina Healthcare Association, in its statement, said the treasurer's report "suggests that North Carolina health system executives' compensation should be called into question and accuses them of not being sincerely committed to their organizations' missions to improve the health of patients and communities. ese claims are egregious for a host of reasons, especially since North Carolina has some of the nation's finest and best-led health systems and hospitals that excel at delivering safe, high-quality healthcare 24/7/365 and are respected and growing destinations for medical education, healthcare professions training and research." e association also contends that the report fails to provide important context on significant challenges health system and hospital executives face, and that it fails to address how, from a financial perspective, 2022 was even bleaker for hospitals and health systems than the previous two years. n

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