Providence Health & Services is a not-for-profit Catholic health care system operating multiple hospitals and medical clinics across seven states, with headquarters in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 hospitals, more than 800 non-acute facilities, and numerous assisted living facilities in the western Half of the United States (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas. Providence Health & Services was founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1859 and merged with St. Joseph Health in 2016.
History
Providence Health System was established by the Sisters of Providence, a community of Roman Catholic sisters founded in Montreal, Quebec in the 1850s, who established a mission at Fort Vancouver and a hospital in Portland, Oregon. In 1859, the Sisters incorporated their work, creating the network of health care services known as Providence Health & Services. In 1891, they founded St. Elizabeth Hospital (now PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center), the Pacific Northwest's first permanent hospital, which opened with 13 beds. The Sisters later established several schools and hospitals in Washington, Montana, Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia, and California.
Dominican Network, a network of hospitals in Washington State, joined Providence Services in 1993. Six Providence Services hospitals incorporated within a single entity, Providence Health Care, in 1998.
In 2003, Health Management Associates purchased Providence Health System's Central Washington properties. These purchases included Providence Yakima Medical Center (formerly St. Elizabeth) and Toppenish Hospital.
Providence Health & Services formed in 2006 as a result of the merger of Providence Health System and Providence Services. Management shifted from the Sisters of Providence to Providence Ministries, a council of sponsors, in 2009.
In 2012, Providence acquired Swedish Health Services in Seattle, Washington, promoting Rod Hochman from C.E.O. of Swedish to President and C.E.O. of Providence in 2013. In 2014, Providence entered a similar partnership with Pacific Medical Centers, which joined Swedish as part of Providence's Western HealthConnect division. In 2016, Providence merged with California-based St. Joseph Health create Providence St. Joseph Health. In 2019, plans were announced to rebrand assets under the Providence brand, and in 2020, Health Management Resources was acquired from Merck & Co., Inc.
In January 2020, COVID-19 emerged as a public health threat on the U.S. West Coast, comprising half of the nation's cases. Providence St. Joseph responded quickly by constructing temporary facilities, and became the first U.S. health system to treat a patient with COVID-19 in Washington state.
Organization
Providence Medical Group, the "physician division" of Providence Health & Services, operates more than 250 clinics in neighborhoods throughout Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington, and employs over 1,600 physicians with expertise in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, dermatology and other specialties.
Providence Health & Services, the parent organization, provides outpatient services, transitional care, home and hospice care, substance abuse programs, mental health treatment, prevention and wellness programs, long-term care, and assisted living and housing. Providence Health Plan provides or administers health coverage to more than 375,000 members nationwide.
Providence has 51 hospitals and over 1,100 clinics in seven U.S. states—Alaska, Washington, Montana, Oregon, California, New Mexico, and Texas—. These facilities include the following:
Alaska
Providence Alaska Medical Center
Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center
Providence Seward Medical and Care Center
Providence Valdez Medical Center
Washington
Providence Centralia Hospital
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett
Providence St. Peter Hospital
Swedish Health Services
Kadlec Regional Medical Center
The following were originally part of the Dominican Network and came into Providence Health & Services upon its formation in 2006
Deer Park Health Center & Hospital
Holy Family Hospital of Spokane
Mount Carmel Hospital of Colville
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Children's Hospital (Spokane) St. Joseph's Hospital of Chewelah St. Mary Medical Center of Walla Walla