Kansas hospital sale is finalized

This week, Mercy health system officials cut the ribbon to commemorate the acquisition of its latest hospital.

Mercy has acquired Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas from the Ascension system. The facility is now known as Mercy Hospital Pittsburg.

Mercy has acquired the former Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas from the Ascension system. The facility is now known as Mercy Hospital Pittsburg.

The purchase of the hospital was finalized on Sept. 1. Mercy invited the public to an event to celebrate the acquisition on Wednesday.

With the acquisition, Mercy now operates three hospitals in Kansas. The Pittsburg hospital joins Mercy Hospital Columbus and Mercy Specialty Hospital – Southeast Kansas, based in Galena.

Jeremy Drinkwitz, president of Mercy Joplin communities, hailed the acquisition of the system’s newest hospital.

“It has taken a lot of work by a lot of people and a lot of patience and grace from our newest Mercy co-workers, but we couldn’t be more excited to officially call them co-workers at Mercy Hospital Pittsburg,” Drinkwitz said in a statement earlier this month.

Drinkwitz also said the system has ambitious plans to improve healthcare options.

“We intend to hit the ground running in Pittsburg and get started on the work of not only continuing but expanding the legacy of health care in the community,” he said.

Mercy touted its plans to expand healthcare options to the Pittsburg community, and said it was looking at new ways to deliver care in the area’s rural communities.

Drinkwitz also said the system would work with local stakeholders to assess community needs.

“Whenever Mercy joins a new community, we want to hear from that community about what we can do to improve care and access for patients,” Drinkwitz said in a statement. “We want to ensure we are providing the right care where it’s needed so patients can stay close to home. We’ll be looking for the best ways to grow the already great services in place.”

Based in St. Louis, Mercy has been expanding over the past year.

In January, Mercy completed the acquisition of another Missouri health system: SoutheastHEALTH. In that transaction, Mercy acquired two hospitals, which are now known as Mercy Hospital Southeast in Cape Girardeau and Mercy Hospital Stoddard in Stoddard. Mercy also acquired a host of clinics as well as SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing & Health Sciences.

Mercy operates 30 acute care and critical access hospitals and 15 specialty hospitals in several states. It’s the sixth largest Catholic healthcare system in America and boasted $8 billion in operating revenue in the 2023 fiscal year.

Ascension has been selling some of its hospitals as the system aims to get a bit leaner and improve its finances.

In July, Ascension agreed to sell its nine hospitals in Illinois to Prime Healthcare. Under the deal, Prime also plans to acquire Ascension’s physician practices, post-acute care facilities and senior living facilities in Illinois.

Last month, Ascension completed the sale of three Michigan hospitals, their associated clinics, and a surgery center to MyMichigan Health.

Ascension Michigan has also teamed with Henry Ford Health in a joint venture to create a new combined organization serving Detroit and southeast Michigan. The system is known as Henry Ford Health, but officials say it is a joint venture and not a merger or acquisition, since no facilities were sold.