Dignity Health

Dignity Health
Nonprofit organization
Industry Healthcare
Founded 1986
Headquarters San Francisco, California, U.S.
Number of locations
39 acute care hospitals
250 ancillary care sites
Area served
Arizona, California and Nevada
Key people
Lloyd H. Dean, President/CEO
Services Hospital management
Revenue Increase$10,522,568,000 USD (2012)
Increase$59,112,000 USD (2012)
Increase$132,549,000 USD (2012)
Number of employees
55,000
Website www.dignityhealth.org
Footnotes / references
2012 Audited Financial Statement
About Dignity Health

Dignity Health is a California-based not-for-profit public-benefit corporation that operates hospitals and ancillary care facilities in 17 states. As such, it is exempt from federal and state income taxes. Dignity Health is the fifth largest hospital system in the nation and the largest not-for-profit hospital provider in California.[1] Dignity Health was founded in 1986 by the Sisters of Mercy under the name Catholic Healthcare West.

From the time of its founding, and until 2012, the company was an official ministry of the Roman Catholic Church. In 2012, the company's corporate governance structure changed, moving it out of the Catholic Church and resulting in a name change to Dignity Health.[2]

Dignity Health is the official health care provider of the San Francisco Giants. It provides services to minor and major league players, and has a clinic at AT&T Park that offers urgent care and physical therapy services to fans and the surrounding community.

Its headquarters are located in Suite 300 in the China Basin Landing building in San Francisco.[3]

Governance

The Board of Directors[4] are responsible for approving major decisions affecting Dignity Health’s health care business, such as long-range strategic plans, the allocation of capital, joint ventures, and major acquisitions and sales. Dignity Health's Board of Directors are:

Sponsorship Council

Although Dignity Health is not a Catholic institution, the organization owns and operates 24 Catholic hospitals. While overall fiscal responsibility for these hospitals rests with the Board of Directors, certain reserve rights are still held by the religious orders that founded them. The Sponsorship Council[5] comprises sisters from each of the six Catholic religious communities that first opened each of the Catholic hospitals owned by Dignity Health. Each community selects one woman to act as one of the six members of the Sponsorship Council. The six Catholic religious communities are currently represented by:

Management

Dignity Health's executive management team[6] is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the health system. Current executive management members are as follows:

History

CHW was founded in 1986 when the Sisters of Mercy Burlingame Regional Community and the Sisters of Mercy Auburn Regional Community merged their health care ministries into one organization.[7]

In 2010, Dignity Health, Blue Shield of California, and Hill Physicians Medical Group formed an Accountable Care Organization that covers 41,000 individuals in the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS). During its first 2 years, this program reduced inpatient use and health care costs significantly.[8]

Controversy

On December 21, 2010, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix declared that a Catholic Healthcare West hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, could no longer call itself a Catholic institution after a 2009 procedure that ended a pregnancy to save a woman’s life.[9] In a public statement, Bishop Olmsted called the procedure a direct abortion,[10] which is in direct violation of The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.[11] In a statement, St. Joseph’s President Linda Hunt said the hospital would comply with Olmsted’s decision, but she defended the actions of the hospital staff, stating, "If we are presented with a situation in which a pregnancy threatens a woman’s life, our first priority is to save both patients. If that is not possible, we will always save the life we can save, and that is what we did in this case. Morally, ethically, and legally, we simply cannot stand by and let someone die whose life we might be able to save."[12] The story made national headlines.[13] Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, defended St. Joseph’s decision to terminate the pregnancy. "They had been confronted with a heartbreaking situation," she said in a formal statement. "They carefully evaluated the patient’s situation and correctly applied the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services to it, saving the only life that was possible to save."[14] (Related: Excommunication of Margaret McBride).

In 2012 trustees of Ashland Community Hospital in Ashland, Oregon invited Dignity Health to acquire it for debt. Community members raised concerns about the possible takeover, pointing to restrictions in Dignity's Statement of Common Values[15] that might mean that the hospital would no longer offer abortion services, or euthanasia services under the Oregon Death with Dignity law.[16] Asked by Ashland mayor John Stromberg if the Statement of Common Values could be modified, Dignity Vice-President for Ethics and Justice Education Carol Bayley told community members, "As far as loosening it, don't hold out hope. We have our feet in Catholic mud, there is no denying it."[16] Facing increasing community opposition, Dignity Health ceased negotiations without explanation on October 30, 2012.[17]

Dignity Health was included in a California Attorney General's antitrust investigation, launched in September 2012, into whether growing consolidation in the state's hospitals and physician groups was driving up health care costs.[18]

Hospitals

Dignity Health owns or operates 40 hospitals—24 Catholic and 15 non-Catholic:[19]

Hospital City State Founded Acquired Acquired from
Barrow Neurological Institute Phoenix Arizona 1961 1986 Mercy Health System
Chandler Regional Medical Center Chandler Arizona 1961 1999[20]
Mercy Gilbert Medical Center Gilbert Arizona 2006 2006
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix Arizona 1895 1986 Mercy Health System
St. Joseph’s Westgate Medical Center Glendale Arizona 2014 2014[21]
Arroyo Grande Community Hospital Arroyo Grande California 1962 2004[22] Universal Health Services
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital Bakersfield California 1956 1996
California Hospital Medical Center Los Angeles California 1887 1998 UniHealth
Community Hospital of San Bernardino San Bernardino California 1910 1998
Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz California 1941 1988 Adrian Dominican Sisters
French Hospital Medical Center San Luis Obispo California 1946 2004[22] Universal Health Services
Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center Glendale California 1926 1998 UniHealth
Marian Regional Medical Center Santa Maria California 1940 1997 Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity
Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital San Andreas California 1951 1996 Dominican Sisters of San Rafael
Mercy General Hospital Sacramento California 1897 1986 Mercy Healthcare
Mercy Hospital of Folsom Folsom California 1962 1986 Mercy Healthcare
Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield, Southwest Campus Bakersfield California 1992 1992
Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield, Truxtun Campus Bakersfield California 1910 1986 Mercy Health System
Mercy Medical Center Merced Merced California 1923 1996 Racine Dominican Sisters
Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta Mt. Shasta California 1986 Mercy Healthcare
Mercy Medical Center Redding Redding California 1986 Mercy Healthcare
Mercy San Juan Medical Center Carmichael California 1967 1986 Mercy Healthcare
Methodist Hospital of Sacramento Sacramento California 1973 1992
Northridge Hospital Medical Center Los Angeles California 1955 1998 UniHealth
Oak Valley Hospital Oakdale California 1998 Oak Valley Hospital District
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital San Francisco California 1906 1993
Sequoia Hospital Redwood City California 1950 1996 Sequoia Healthcare District
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Grass Valley California 1958 1996
St. Bernardine Medical Center San Bernardino California 1931 1996[23] Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital Red Bluff California 1906 1995 Sisters of Mercy, Omaha Regional Community
St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital Camarillo California 1974 1994
St. John's Regional Medical Center Oxnard California 1912 1986 Mercy Health System
St. Joseph's Behavioral Health Center Stockton California 1988 1996 Dominican Sisters of San Rafael
St. Joseph's Medical Center Stockton California 1899 1996 Dominican Sisters of San Rafael
St. Mary Medical Center Long Beach California 1923 1996[23] Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
St. Mary's Medical Center San Francisco California 1857 1986 Mercy Health System
Woodland Healthcare Woodland California 1905 1996
St. Rose Dominican Hospital – Rose de Lima Campus Henderson Nevada 1947 1988 Adrian Dominican Sisters
St. Rose Dominican Hospital – San Martín Campus Spring Valley Nevada 2006 2006
St. Rose Dominican Hospital – Siena Campus Henderson Nevada 2000 2000

Arizona

Ahwatukee 480.728.4000 | 4545 East Chandler Blvd. (SW corner of 46th Street and Chandler Blvd.)

Gilbert 480.728.4100 | 1501 North Gilbert Road (On Gilbert Road south of Baseline Road)

Queen Creek 480.728.6000 | 7205 South Power Road (On Power Road south of Pecos Road)

Maricopa 520.233.2468 Monday - Friay 12pm to 9pm | 20750 N. John Wayne Parkway Maricopa, AZ 85139 (located in the Shops at Maricopa Fiesta)

References

  1. About Dignity Health
  2. Dignity Governance Press Release
  3. "Contact Us." Dignity Health. Retrieved on October 23, 2012. "Dignity Health 185 Berry Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, CA 94107"
  4. Dignity Health Board of Directors
  5. Dignity Health Sponsors
  6. Dignity Health ELT
  7. Dignity Health History
  8. "Accountable Care Organization Featuring Shared Global Risk Stimulates Development of Initiatives To Improve Care, Reduces Inpatient Use and Costs". Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  9. Phoenix diocese strips St. Joseph’s Hospital of Catholic Status, Arizona Republic, Michael Clancy, December 22, 2010
  10. Statements from the Diocese of Phoenix and St. Joseph's, Arizona Republic, May 15, 2010
  11. Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 2009
  12. Arizona hospital loses Catholic status over abortion case, Associated Press, December 22, 2010
  13. Bishop Strips Hospital of Catholic Status After Abortion, ABC News, Dan Harris, December 22, 2010
  14. Catholic Health Association defies Phoenix bishop over abortion case, Catholic News Agency, Benjamin Mann, December 23, 2010
  15. "Dignity Health Statement of Common Values" (PDF). Dignity Health. Retrieved 12/03/2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. 16.0 16.1 "Abortion, physician-assisted suicide dominate forum". Ashland Daily Tidings. Retrieved 12/03/2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. "Dignity Health ends deal with Ashland Community Hospital". Ashland Daily Tidings. Retrieved 12/03/2012. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. Mathews, Anna Wilde (September 18, 2012). "Dignity Health included in AG's inquiry". Ashland Daily Tidings (Reprinted from Wall Street Journal). Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  19. Dignity Health Hospital List
  20. Chandler Regional, Catholic Healthcare merge complete
  21. https://www.dignityhealth.org/westgate/
  22. 22.0 22.1 Two Hospitals Sold to Healthcare Company
  23. 23.0 23.1 Catholic Chain to Buy 2 Southland Hospitals

External links