Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives Announce Executive Leadership Team For CommonSpirit Health

Team brings experience, expertise to future health system   

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Dec. 4, 2018 – A highly experienced group of professionals has been named as the executive leaders for CommonSpirit Health, the new nonprofit Catholic health system created by the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health. These leaders will assume their new roles following the completion of the alignment, which is on track to close by Dec. 31.

The team, to be led by the future CEOs of CommonSpirit Health – Kevin E. Lofton, CEO of CHI, and Lloyd H. Dean, President/CEO of Dignity Health – will oversee a health system of more than 150,000 caregivers and support teams who will serve communities across 21 states. CommonSpirit Health will include hospitals, outpatient centers, home health agencies, assisted living and retirement communities, and community-based health programs.

Executive leaders announced today will report to Dean and Lofton, who will both serve as CEOs in the Office of the CEO. Each will have specific and independent responsibilities and decision-making authority. Together, the CEOs will jointly oversee strategy and integration planning. Dean will have authority for all of operations and all of the clinical, financial, and human resources of the new ministry. Lofton will have authority for advocacy; compliance; digital; information technology; international business; legal services; philanthropy; mission; sponsorship and governance; and system partnerships. They will work side by side with executive leadership to plan a successful integration of CommonSpirit Health. 

Executive Leadership Team members will include:

• Paul Edgett, Chief Business Lines Officer
• Charles Francis, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer
• Thomas Kopfensteiner, STD, Chief Mission Officer
• Mitch Melfi, Esq., Chief Legal Officer
• Daniel Morissette, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
• Marvin O’Quinn, President and Chief Operating Officer
• Darryl Robinson, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Kathleen Sanford, DBA, RN, Chief Nursing Officer
• Elizabeth Shih, Chief Administrative Officer (supporting Lloyd Dean)
• Bruce Swartz, Senior Vice President, Physician Enterprise
• Patricia Webb, Chief Administrative Officer (supporting Kevin Lofton)
• Robert Wiebe, MD, Chief Medical Officer

“Today is a major milestone in creating a national ministry that will serve the common good in exciting new ways,” said Lofton. “These executives will promote and lead a culture of collaboration, excellence, and inclusiveness for our employees, so that CommonSpirit Health can provide the best possible care – including a more personal, friendly, and efficient health experience for our patients and customers. Lloyd and I are confident that with their leadership, we will move forward together to provide exceptional care and create healthier communities.”

“Kevin and I have carefully selected leaders with the skills and vision needed to make CommonSpirit Health a national health system that will transform care as we know it today for our patients and the communities we serve,” said Dean. “This monumental opportunity will help us create better health care access for more Americans through innovative delivery models that will serve patients where and how they need care the most. We recognize this is also a tremendous responsibility, but one necessary to support a better health care future for everyone.”

Dean, Lofton, and the new executive leaders will focus on achieving success in five key areas:

• Expanding clinical expertise across the system in primary, acute, and specialty care, and focusing on care for patients with chronic, complex conditions;
• Accelerating the shift toward providing services outside of hospitals to homes, the community and online;
• Investing in technologies that make care more convenient and personal;
• Addressing the underlying causes of poor health such as homelessness, addiction, and violence, and advocating for policies that improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable members of our communities; and
• Retaining and recruiting a highly-skilled and dedicated work force where people embrace service to others and experience a personal and professional fulfillment in their work.

Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health signed a definitive agreement to join their ministries on Dec. 7, 2017. Since then, the organizations have been planning integration efforts for the new system, which will have its national office in Chicago. On Oct. 16, 2018 the Board of Stewardship Trustees for CommonSpirit Health was selected and announced, followed by the announcement of the new system name, CommonSpirit Health, on Nov. 15, 2018.

*Updated on Jan. 3, 2019

About Catholic Health Initiatives
Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit, faith-based health system formed in 1996 through the consolidation of four Catholic health systems, expresses its mission each day by creating and nurturing healthy communities in the hundreds of sites across the nation where we provide care. One of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems, Englewood, Colo.-based CHI operates in 18 states and comprises 101 hospitals, including two academic health centers; major teaching hospitals and 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; living communities; and other facilities and services that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. In fiscal year 2018, CHI provided more than $1.14 billion in financial assistance and community benefit for programs and services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. Financial assistance and community benefit totaled approximately $2.1 billion with the inclusion of the unpaid costs of Medicare. The health system, which generated operating revenues of $15 billion in fiscal year 2018, has total assets of approximately $20.5 billion. For more information, please visit our website at www.catholichealthinitiatives.org.

About Dignity Health
Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a multi-state network of 10,000 physicians, more than 60,000 employees, 41 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care centers including neighborhood hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. In FY 2018, Dignity Health provided $2.1 billion in charitable care and services. For more information, please visit our website at www.dignityhealth.org. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Dan Loeterman
Dignity Health
[email protected]
(626) 744-2384

Michael Romano
Catholic Health Initiatives
[email protected]
(303) 383-2720