Verity Health System

This article is about the California-based healthcare organization. For the St. Louis-based healthcare organization, see Ascension Health.

Verity Health System (formerly Daughters of Charity Health System, or DCHS) was a healthcare organization based in Redwood City, California, United States, that operated six hospitals across California with approximately 8,000 associates and physicians.[1]

History

The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul founded the Los Angeles Infirmary, later the St. Vincent Medical Center, in 1856.[2] Their hospitals were originally sponsored by the Western Province of the Daughters of Charity and were part of the Daughters of Charity National Health System, now Ascension. In 1995, they withdrew from the national system to merge with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). In 2002, the hospitals withdrew from CHW to become the regional Daughters of Charity Health System.[2][3] (CHW became Dignity Health.)

Facing financial strain, DCHS sought proposals to purchase the system. An affiliation with Ascension Health did not result in a merger.[1] In 2014, the Daughters of Charity agreed to sell DCHS to Prime Healthcare Services for $843 million.[4] Prime abandoned the acquisition on March 10, 2015, citing restrictions that California Attorney General Kamala Harris placed on the sale.[5]

Later in 2015, DCHS announced a deal where they would become managed by a healthcare subsidiary of New York City-based BlueMountain Capital Management and become Verity Health System, a secular nonprofit. Under the deal, BlueMountain agreed to Harris's condition that all but one DCHS hospital be run as an acute care facility for at least ten years.[6] In addition, BlueMountain would have the option to purchase Verity and convert it to a for-profit entity after three years.[2] In 2017, NantWorks, the holding company of Patrick Soon-Shiong, bought a majority stake in the management company from BlueMountain.[7]

Unable to turn around its financial issues, Verity Health System filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 31, 2018.[8][9][10] In 2019, Santa Clara County purchased O'Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy for $235 million.[11] KPC Group agreed to purchase Seton Medical Center and Seton Coastside in Northern California for a combined $70 million, St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood for $420 million, and St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles for $120 million.[12][13] However, the sale was not completed by the court-mandated deadline of December 5.[14][15]

On January 6, 2020, Verity announced the closure of St. Vincent Medical Center.[15][16] In March, Verity indicated plans to close Seton Medical Center.[17] Days later, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved $20 million over four years to help keep the hospital open.[17] On March 19, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the State of California would lease beds at both Seton and St. Vincent for three months as part of its emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18][19]

On April 1, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of St. Vincent to the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation for $135 million.[20] On April 9, Verity announced the sale of St. Francis Medical Center to Prime Healthcare Services for $350 million.[21][22] On April 22, the court approved the sale of Seton Medical Center and Seton Coastside to AHMC Healthcare for $40 million.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Seipel, Tracy (January 13, 2014). "Daughters of Charity health system seeks buyer". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Daughters of Charity Health System becomes Verity Health". www.chausa.org. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  3. ^ "Who We Are". Daughters of Charity Health System. July 22, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  4. ^ Terhune, Chad (October 10, 2014). "Prime to buy six Catholic hospitals in California; SEIU opposes deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  5. ^ Seipel, Tracy (March 11, 2015). "Prime Healthcare passes on Daughters of Charity deal". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  6. ^ "Daughters of Charity Health System closes deal with hedge fund". 14 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  7. ^ "Patrick Soon-Shiong's NantWorks to take over St. Vincent and 5 other California hospitals". Los Angeles Times. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
  8. ^ "California hospital chain with ties to billionaire files for..." Reuters. 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  9. ^ "Santa Clara County Moves to Buy Two Hospitals After Bankruptcy". THE CALIFORNIA REPORT. KQED. October 10, 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Verity Health System Files for Protection Under Chapter 11 | Verity Health". verity.org. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  11. ^ "Santa Clara County, in massive expansion of public health system, takes over O'Connor and Saint Louise hospitals". The Mercury News. 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  12. ^ "KPC Group closes in on purchase of four Verity Health hospitals". Modern Healthcare. 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  13. ^ "Verity Health gets $610 million offer for Seton Medical Center and three other hospitals". The Mercury News. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  14. ^ staff, Ryan McCarthy Daily Journal (19 December 2019). "Deadline missed in Daly City's Seton Medical Center sale". San Mateo Daily Journal. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  15. ^ a b Mojadad, Ida (2020-01-15). "Bankruptcy Roller Coaster Continues for Major Daly City Hospital". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  16. ^ "Verity Health System Announces Closure of St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles". AP NEWS. 2020-01-06. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  17. ^ a b "County officials: Daly City hospital could shut down as soon as next week". The San Francisco Examiner. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  18. ^ "Coronavirus: Seton Medical Center opens to COVID-19 patients". The Mercury News. 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  19. ^ Amanda del Castillo (2020-03-20). "Coronavirus California: Fight against COVID-19 will keep Seton Medical Center open, state to lease hospital beds". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  20. ^ Al-Muslim, Aisha (2020-04-01). "L.A. Times Owner's Foundation Wins OK on Leading Bid for Closed Hospital". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  21. ^ "Prime Healthcare to Acquire Verity Health System's St. Francis Medical Center". AP NEWS. 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  22. ^ "Bankrupt Verity Health to sell 384-bed hospital to Prime Healthcare Services". www.beckershospitalreview.com. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  23. ^ Al-Muslim, Aisha (2020-04-22). "AHMC Healthcare to Buy Two San Francisco-Area Hospitals for $40 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-04-28.