CommonSpirit Health and AdventHealth decided to disaffiliate in February, breaking up their joint venture Centura Health.
Centennial, Colo.-based Centura formed in 1996 by Catholic Health Initiatives, which later merged with San Francisco-based Dignity Health to form CommonSpirit Health, and AdventHealth in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The press release announcing the split in February said the partnership had "reached its natural maturity" and 15 of the hospitals that were part of the joint venture are now managed and operated by CommonSpirit. AdventHealth kept five of the former Centura hospitals within its system.
But The Colorado Sun was not satisfied with the official explanation. In an interview with Peter Banko, former CEO of Centura and current division president of CommonSpirit, the publication asked why the venture dissolved.
"I think it ran its course," Mr. Banko told the Sun. "At some point there was misalignment between the two owners around governance and management, and how to govern and manage the organization. And neither perspective was good or bad. It was all shaped in their culture and context."
He said the misalignment affected the system's "people, culture and performance" but didn't provide exact examples. He did note the faith differences between the two systems did not cause the disaffiliation. CommonSpirit is a Catholic-affiliated system while AdventHealth is a Seventh Day Adventist Church affiliate.
Mr. Banko also noted Centura plans to expand in existing markets and new partnerships may be on the horizon, especially given the market dynamics with Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health and Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth, and their nonprofit health plan expanding in the space.
"You're going to see people trying to (form) or announcing new partnerships that you would have never imagined working together before," he told the Sun. He added later, "I think you'll be surprised over the next 12 to 24 months of the different relationships and different things that are unfolding in the market."
Mr. Banko also said the health system plans to invest more in the workforce, with imaging and surgical techs receiving raises in the near future.