Ascension recently reported their 2024 report and I thought it was worth looking into for you guys. Long story short, Ascension is in the midst of a rapid strategic shift as they look to exit undesirable markets and restructure the health system’s portfolio and associated assets around what’s working.
To that end, I have a graphic with some brief commentary, and that’s it for today.
Let’s dive in!
Ascension’s recent, notable activity
- August 2024: Sold 3 hospitals and associated footprint to MyMichigan Health, exiting northern Michigan market.
- July 2024: Sold 9 hospitals and associated footprint to Prime Healthcare, Prime’s largest acquisition to-date and reflecting Ascension’s further retreat from Chicago/Illinois market.
- June 2024: Sold St. Vincent’s Health System in Alabama to UAB for ~$450M.
- June 2024: Ascension Personalized Care (its ACA plan) exited Texas
- May 2024: Ascension experiences system-wide cybersecurity incident.
- March 2024: Sold certain Ascension Health senior care assets to Villa Investment Partners
- February 2024: Transitioned Ascension Pittsburg to Mercy
- February 2024: Transitioned Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital to The Guthrie Clinic
- February 2024: Nationwide Change Healthcare cyber attack
- December 2023: Formed JV with Lifepoint Health to jointly own Highpoint Health System consisting of 3 hospitals & assets in Tennessee.
- November 2023: Divested its 50% stake in Network Health to Froedtert Health giving Froedtert full ownership
- October 2023: Formed a joint venture with Henry Ford Health System and contributed all Ascension southeast and mid Michigan hospitals to the JV. Ascension gets ownership % in HFHS.
- October 2023: Sold Providence Hospital in Alabama to the University of South Alabama Health Care Authority.
Why it matters
A big theme of 2024 is market density, and portfolio realignment. We’ve seen Tenet sell hospitals to an extreme degree, and Ascension is right there with ’em with some rapid exits from the Michigan and Illinois/Chicago markets.
Not included above is Ascensions unwinding of its Amita Health JOA. It has been a long journey for Ascension. In fact the nonprofit probably would have swung from a $3B loss to profitable this year (including investment returns) had it not been for the May cybersecurity event stunting volume growth at a pivotal time.
If the signal isn’t clear, it should be – these markets are unattractive, and Ascension didn’t have the right assets, market share, or strategy to continue sustainable operations. Therefore remaining players either are firmly entrenched and/or have an uphill battle against poor market demographics and strong payor presence.
I know the graphic is small, so here’s a closer look at that waterfall chart:
Based on new ventures like Ascension One and where that’s being prioritized, you should expect to see Ascension bolster its presence in these types of markets with more attractive characteristics. It’s the healthcare game we play!
