Oakland, Calif.-based healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente made headlines April 26 when it agreed to acquire Geisinger Health to form a new nonprofit health system, Risant Health.
Danville, Pa.-based Gesinger will be the first system under the Risant umbrella, with Kaiser planning to add another five or so systems to the newly formed entity.
The move certainly caught several healthcare leaders off guard.
"We were all so focused on what will be the next healthcare move of Amazon, Microsoft and Google that we never saw Risant Health coming!" said Vikas Chowdhry, founder of TraumaCare.AI.
Geisinger Health, which will keep its name in the new deal, will enjoy a "turbo-boost," according to its CEO Jaewon Ryu, MD, who will become Risant Health's CEO.
The newly merged system would likely maintain the "AA-" credit ratings both Kaiser and Geisinger currently have, S&P Global said May 3.
Kaiser Permanente reported $233 million in operating income for the first quarter, reversing a $72 million loss in the same period in 2022.
The Risant Health transaction is subject to regulatory approval.