Providence Health & Services

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, Oregon.[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, which opened with 13 beds.[3][4] The Sisters later established several schools and hospitals in Washington, Montana, Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia, and California.[5]

Dominican Network, a network of hospitals in Washington State, joined Providence Services in 1993.[2] Six Providence Services hospitals incorporated within a single entity, Providence Health Care, in 1998.[2]

In 2003, Health Management Associates purchased Providence Health System's Central Washington properties. These purchases included Providence Yakima Medical Center (formerly St. Elizabeth) and Toppenish Hospital.[4]

Providence Health & Services formed in 2006 as a result of the merger of Providence Health System and Providence Services.[2] Management shifted from the Sisters of Providence to Providence Ministries, a council of sponsors, in 2009.[6]

In 2012, Providence acquired Swedish Health Services in Seattle, Washington,[7] promoting Rod Hochman from C.E.O. of Swedish to President and C.E.O. of Providence in 2013.[8] In 2014, Providence entered a similar partnership with Pacific Medical Centers, which joined Swedish as part of Providence's Western HealthConnect division.[9] In 2016, Providence merged with California-based St. Joseph Health create Providence St. Joseph Health. In 2019, plans were announced to rebrand assets under the Providence brand,[10] and in 2020, Health Management Resources was acquired from Merck & Co., Inc.[11][12]

In January 2020, COVID-19 emerged as a public health threat on the U.S. West Coast, comprising half of the nation's cases. Providence St. Joseph responded quickly by constructing temporary facilities, and became the first U.S. health system to treat a patient with COVID-19 in Washington state.[13]

Providence Medical Group, the "physician division" of Providence Health & Services,[2] operates more than 250 clinics in neighborhoods throughout Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington, and employs over 1,600 physicians with expertise in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, dermatology and other specialties.[14]

Providence Health & Services, the parent organization, 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.[15]

Providence has 51 hospitals and over 1,100 clinics in seven U.S. states—Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Texas—as of 2022.[16] These facilities include the following:[17]

Washington

Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia

• Providence Centralia Hospital
• Providence Regional Medical Center Everett
• Providence St. Peter Hospital
• Swedish Health Services
• Kadlec Regional Medical Center

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

• Deer Park Health Center & Hospital
• Holy Family Hospital of Spokane
• Mount Carmel Hospital of Colville
• Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital (Spokane)
• St. Joseph's Hospital of Chewelah[18]
• St. Mary Medical Center of Walla Walla

Oregon

Providence Newberg Medical Center

• Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital
• Providence Medford Medical Center
• Providence Milwaukie Hospital
• Providence Newberg Medical Center
• Providence Portland Medical Center
• Providence Seaside Hospital
• Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
• Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center

California

Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center

• Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
• Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center (San Pedro)
• Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center (Torrance)
• Petaluma Valley Hospital
• Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
• Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center
• Providence Medical Institute
• Providence Saint John's Health Center
• Providence Redwood Memorial Hospital
• Queen of the Valley Medical Center
• Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital
• St. Mary's Medical Center-Apple Valley
• Providence Mission Hospital Mission Viejo
• Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach
• St. Joseph Hospital Orange
• St. Jude Medical Center (Fullerton)
• St. Joseph Hospital – Eureka

According to a New York Times investigation of multiple health systems published during May 2020, Providence obtained more than half of a billion in government funds which were intended to keep health care providers afloat 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 revenue per year.[19] The American Hospital Association responded to the article, citing pandemic-related losses as high as $350 million per health system per month.[20]

A second Times investigation found that Providence had instituted a program created by McKinsey & Company to request payments from patients to cover the cost of care left over following Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Hospital staff were reportedly instructed to negotiate payment plans, informing patients about financial assistance as a final option. Those who did not pay were sent to debt collection, a practice for which the Attorney General of Washington filed suit, alleging that they were in violation of state laws which entitled low-income patents to care with no copay.[21] Providence countered the lawsuit, but stated they would stop using debt collectors and that they would refund 760 patients and work with credit agencies to “reverse any negative impact on credit.”[22]

In 2020, a Portland, Oregon area physician assistant who had been barred from seeing female patients of child-bearing age because she refused to offer them contraceptive care went on to refuse to provide a "young" patient with emergency contraception. She was terminated after further refusing to agree to refer patients to other providers for those services which she did not wish to offer herself. Her refusals to provide care were based on her chosen interpretation of Catholicism. Providence Medical Group did not respond to request to the Catholic News Agency's request for comment.[23]

Providence has been recognized through nomination to the Health Tech 50 list in 2022, with final awardees to be announced in late November 2023.[24]

• Official website
• Providence Archives (official archives)