Providence Health & Services – Wikipedia

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Healthcare system operating multiple hospitals across seven states, headquarters in Renton

Providence Health & Services
Industry Healthcare
Founded 1859
Founder Sisters of Providence
Headquarters ,

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United States

Area served

 Western United States

Key people

 Rod Hochman, M.D. (President and CEO)[1]
Services Health care services: acute care, surgical, medical clinics, hospice, home care, nursing homes, assisted living

Number of employees

 120,000
Website providence.org

Providence Health & Services is a not-for-profit, Catholic health care system operating multiple hospitals and medical clinics across seven states, with headquarters in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 hospitals, more than 800 non-acute facilities and numerous assisted living facilities on in the Western United States (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California) as well as Montana, New Mexico, and Texas. Providence Health & Services was founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1859 and merged with St. Joseph Health in 2016.

In recent years the company has been the subject of several controversies. A New York Times investigation revealed a Providence program pressured low-income patients to make payments to the company, even though the hospital was supposed to give them free care in exchange for tax benefits. The newspaper also found that the company received more than $500 million in government funds intended for hospitals at risk of going under while the hospital chain had nearly $12 billion in cash reserves.

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History[edit]

Providence Health System was established by the Sisters of Providence, a community of Roman Catholic sisters founded in Montreal, Quebec in the 1850s, who established a mission at Fort Vancouver and a hospital in Portland.[2][3] In 1859, the Sisters incorporated their work, creating the network of health care services known as Providence Health & Services. In 1891, they founded St. Elizabeth Hospital (now PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center), the Pacific Northwest’s first permanent hospital opened with 13 beds.[3][4] The sisters later established several schools and hospitals in Washington, Montana, Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia, and California.[5]

Providence Health System was managed by the Sisters of Providence until December 31, 2009, when a Council of Sponsors known as Providence Ministries was created to serve as the canonical owners.[6]

Providence Health & Services formally came into being January 1, 2006, with the merger of Providence Health System, the progenitor firm, and Providence Services, based in Spokane and the parent company of Providence Health Care.[2] Providence Health Care itself was formed in 1998 when six hospitals operating under Providence Services incorporated into a single entity.[2] The hospitals making up Providence Health Care constituted the Dominican Network, which “became part of” Providence Services in 1993.[2]

In 2003, Health Management Associates purchased the Providence Health System properties in Central Washington including Providence Yakima Medical Center (formerly St. Elizabeth) and Toppenish Hospital.[4]

In 2012, Providence allied itself with Seattle, Washington-based Swedish Health Services,[2] at which time Swedish’s CEO Dr. Rod Hochman, was hired by Providence. In April 2013, Hochman became the president and CEO of Providence.[7] In 2014, Providence entered in an affiliation with Pacific Medical Centers (PacMed). PacMed joined Swedish as part of Providence’s Western HealthConnect division.[8]

Providence Medical Group is the “physician division” of Providence.[2] It operates more than 250 clinics in neighborhoods throughout Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Providence Medical Group is part of Providence Health & Services. Providence Medical Group employs more than 1,600 physicians offering expertise in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, dermatology and other specialties.[9]

Providence Health & Services provides outpatient services, transitional care, home and hospice care, substance abuse programs, mental health treatment, prevention and wellness programs, long-term care, and assisted living and housing. Providence Health Plan provides or administers health coverage to more than 375,000 members nationwide.[10]

The company has a program in place designed to reduce the amount of food scraps that it sends to landfills.[11]

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In 2014, Providence signed a sponsorship deal with the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, naming Timbers’ stadium Providence Park.[12] They became the jersey sponsor for Seattle Sounders FC in 2023,[13] which drew criticism from fans.[14]

Controversies[edit]

In 2018, Providence paid its chief executive, Rod Hochman, more than $10 million.[15]

A New York Times investigation in May 2020 revealed that Providence Health System obtained more than half of a billion in government funds which were intended to prevent health care providers from going under during the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, Providence Health System had nearly $12 billion in cash reserves. By making investments with that fund, it generated approximately $1 billion in profits per year.[15]

A second The New York Times investigation found that Providence Hospital system had instituted a program to pressure low-income patients to make payments to the company, even though the hospital was supposed to give them free care in exchange for tax benefits. The program called “Rev-Up” (Rev standing for revenue) was created shortly after the company’s expensive merger with St. Joseph Health and was suggested by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Hospital staff were instructed to not inform patients that they may qualify for free care, and instead received training on how to approach patients and pressure them to pay. When patients refused, they were often sent to debt collection, a violation of some state laws that entitled low-income patents to free care, leading to a suit from the Attorney General of Washington. Providence denies that anything they did was illegal, however the company said they would stop using debt collectors and refund some payments.[16]

Hospitals[edit]

Providence has 51 hospitals and over 1,100 clinics in seven U.S. states as of 2022.[17] These facilities include the following:[18]

Alaska[edit]

California[edit]

Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center

Montana[edit]

Oregon[edit]

Providence Newberg Medical Center

Washington[edit]

Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia

The following were originally part of the Dominican Network and came into Providence Health & Services upon its formation in 2006[2]

Texas[edit]

  • Covenant Medical Center – Lubbock
  • Covenant Children’s Hospital – Lubbock
  • Grace Medical Center – Lubbock
  • Covenant Health Plainview
  • Covenant Health Levelland

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Providence – Leadership”. Providence. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Crompton, Kim (August 13, 2015). “Providence Health eyes large merger”. Spokane Journal of Business. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Meyers, Donald W. (January 20, 2020). “It Happened Here: Sisters of Providence establish St. Elizabeth Hospital”. Yakima Herald-Republic. Archived from the original on January 20, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  4. ^ a b “Sisters of Providence health-care legacy ending”. products.kitsapsun.com. Retrieved April 29, 2020.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ The Bell and the River – Mary of the Blessed Sacrament McCrosson – Google Boeken. January 1957. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  6. ^ Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province (December 31, 2009). “Hopes and Aspirations for Providence Ministries” (PDF). Retrieved June 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Bauman, Valerie (March 26, 2013). “Leadership change at Providence Health & Services comes earlier than planned”. Puget Sound Business Journal.
  8. ^ Greene, Jay (February 3, 2014). “PacMed agrees to ‘secular affiliation’ with Providence”. The Seattle Times.
  9. ^ “Providence Health & Services: Continuum of Care: Find Clinics”. .providence.org. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  10. ^ “About Us”. Healthplans.providence.org. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  11. ^ Cook, Dan (September 26, 2017). “Wasted”. Oregon Business Magazine. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  12. ^ “Providence Park becomes new name of Portland Timbers’ stadium”. oregonlive. 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  13. ^ Evans, Jayda (January 20, 2023). “Sounders announce partnership with Providence Swedish. Here’s a look at the new jerseys”. The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  14. ^ Evans, Jayda (January 24, 2023). “Sounders partnership with Providence draws ire of fans”. The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Drucker, Jesse; Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Kliff, Sarah (May 25, 2020). “Wealthiest Hospitals Got Billions in Bailout for Struggling Health Providers”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Silver-Greenberg, Jessica; Thomas, Katie (September 24, 2022). “They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay”. The New York Times. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  17. ^ “Continuing Disclosure Quarterly Report, Q3 2022” (PDF). Providence Health & Services. September 30, 2022. p. 1. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  18. ^ “Hospitals”.
  19. ^ “Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital”. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved October 15, 2009.

External links[edit]


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