St. Louis-based Ascension Health has created a new unit to extend the organization's mission internationally: Ascension Holdings International.
The new arm of the health system will collaborate with Catholic healthcare providers internationally to explore new ways of working together on regional or national arrangements.
Jim Bonnette, MD, will serve as managing director of international relationship development. Phoebe Yang, JD, will serve as managing director of international strategic design and implementation.
Ascension has made some global footprints in recent years. In 2012, Ascension partnered with an India hospital operator Narayana Health for a $2 billion project called Health City Cayman Islands, which aimed to bring high-quality, affordable medicine to the Caribbean and South America. The facility opened in 2014. Separate from AHI, the system is a partner in the Global Health Partnership Initiative with several other Catholic health systems to deliver care in underserved countries.