CHI Franciscan Health and Virginia Mason Health System have signed a letter of intent to strike a clinical partnership and further align their roughly 1,600 physicians combined throughout the Puget Sound area.
The partnership and strategic affiliation will form a regional health network, but Tacoma, Wash.-based CHI Franciscan and Seattle-based Virginia Mason — faith-based and secular organizations, respectively — will remain separate entities. The terms of the partnership will not require a change to the types of services available at each system.
Representatives of both organizations will spend the next several months identifying specific areas of collaboration between the two systems.
Virginia Mason includes its flagship 336-bed hospital and a multispecialty practice of 500 physicians. Last year, the system recorded $1 billion in revenue. CHI Franciscan includes seven full service hospitals, about 200 clinics and more than 1,100 employed and aligned physicians.