Providence, Hoag Announce End of Decade-Long Affiliation

California-based Providence and Hoag have announced that they will end their affiliation established about a decade ago.

“Although we are formally parting ways, we will have other opportunities to work together on behalf of the community. We look forward to future collaborations with our colleagues at Hoag, whom we continue to hold in high regard,” Erik Wexler, president of operations at Providence, said in the announcement. 

The two organizations have agreed to amicably separate by Jan. 31, 2022. Once this split is complete, Hoag will become an independent entity from Providence and Covenant Health Network, which governs the affiliation.

Providence Health currently has 52 hospitals and over 1,000 physician clinics in seven Western states.

“We appreciate the relationships we built over the last several years with the Providence and St. Joseph teams. This move opens up new avenues of collaboration in the future, as each institution brings its unique strengths to bear in service of patient health,” said Robert T. Braithwaite, CEO and president of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

Leaders from both organizations stated that the separation is the best path forward for each organization. Hoag and Providence plan to have a seamless break without impacting patient access to high-quality and affordable healthcare.

The separation comes after Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian merged with Irvine, California-based St. Joseph Health in 2012. Providence merged with St. Joseph Health nearly four years ago.

In 2020, Hoag filed a lawsuit against Providence Health, stating that the health system made no process on “realigning the relationship” after a year of attempted negotiations.

“The current structure of our relationship with Providence, we believe, is not in the best interest of our patients, the community, our physicians and team members,” Braithwaite said in a statement at the time. “As a result, Hoag’s Founders took legal action, we had hoped to avoid, to dissolve the affiliation, which all parties have agreed did not fulfill the measure of its creation.”

Hoag explained that its affiliation with St. Joseph Health intended to change healthcare delivery in Orange County, California. 

“While we have tried to negotiate a realignment of our affiliation with Providence Health for more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored our need for independence,” George Wood, chair of the board of directors chair at Hoag, said in a statement regarding the lawsuit. “We are deeply grateful to Hoag’s physicians and staff for their work over the last few months as they have been on the frontlines. Our community has counted on them during this time and we need to make sure we can fulfill our promise to Orange County.”