The Catholic nonprofit is creating a new business unit to find partners in regions and countries "where we can bring value and, in turn, receive value."
Ascension Health is going international in an effort to diversify its financial platform.
The new business unit will enable the health system to gain knowledge and deliver a return on investment through exposure and early access to the growing environment of innovative ideas and thinking from other parts of the world, said Anthony Tersigni, EdD, FACHE, president and CEO of Ascension, in a press release.
The initiative, which follows several years of exploration by the health system's board of directors on how best to expand its international presence, will be a subsidiary of the St. Louis-based healthcare system, called Ascension Holdings International.
The unit will be led by John Doyle, president and CEO of Ascension Holdings, the health system's innovation arm, which includes several companies that range from providing medical equipment and device management services to services that centralize and streamline internal processes for health systems.
"As we expand our engagement with international markets, Ascension Holdings International will focus on select regions and countries based on population size, safety and stability, rule of law, and business environment," Doyle said.
No specific regions or countries were named.
"We will begin by taking advantage of existing Ascension strengths and capabilities that can benefit healthcare providers in those markets. We expect this approach to open the door to further opportunities to engage with local partners where we can bring value and, in turn, receive value."
Another important focus will be to collaborate with Catholic healthcare providers internationally to explore ways to work together in regional or national arrangements.
The Managing Directors
Jim Bonnette, MD, will serve as managing director of international relationship development at Ascension Holdings International, and Phoebe Yang, JD, will serve as managing director of international strategic design and implementation.
Bonnette comes to the new Ascension unit from the Advisory Board Company, where he was head of strategy consulting, and where he recently has been consulting with government agencies and health organizations in the U.K., France, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Yang joins the unit from MissionPoint Health Partners, part of Ascension's health management arm, where she led development of new solutions and capability enhancements to diversify the organization's revenue base and move into alternative risk-based offerings.
Ascension is the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system.