Business Roundup: MO Hospitals Join Forces

Hospital and health system mergers, acquisitions and collaborations continue at a brisk pace during the week of October 21-26.

Missouri Hospitals Form Collaborative
Missouri's Saint Luke's Health System of Kansas City, BJC HealthCare of St. Louis, CoxHealth of Springfield, and Memorial Health System of Springfield, IL, have created a joint BJC Collaborative, LLC. The four health systems will remain independent under the collaborative, which will have a combined "footprint" of 4,821 hospital beds in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas, and combined annual revenues of almost $7 billion.

The health systems forecast that the anticipated savings generated by the collaboration will allow them to deploy clinical programs and services to improve access and quality of care while lowering costs.

Saint Luke's is the largest non-profit healthcare provider in the Kansas City area and includes 11 hospitals and several primary and specialty care practices. BJC HealthCare is a 13 hospital system serving eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

CoxHealth is Springfield, MO's only locally owned not-for-profit health system, and includes three hospitals and more than 65 clinics in 20 communities. Memorial Health System is a three-hospital, non-profit health care organization serving Illinois patients in a 40-county region.