Catholic firm acquires hospitals in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in nearly 30 years, health care in Utah has a Catholic presence. On May 1 CommonSpirit Health and Centura Health, which is the organization’s management arm, announced they had acquired five hospitals and more than 35 medical clinics in the state. Those hospitals include the former Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, to which the new owners have restored the original name in honor of the religious order that founded it.
In 1875, the Sisters of the Holy Cross opened Holy Cross Hospital, which until recently was known as Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. In 1994 the sisters sold the hospital to Health Trust Inc. Since then, the hospital has had a turbulent history, undergoing several owners and mergers. Most recently it was operated by Iasis Healthcare, but a planned merger in 2022 of Steward and HCA Healthcare was opposed by the Federal Trade Commission.
At the May 1 event celebrating CommonSpirit Health’s acquisition of the hospital, Patrick Gaughan, Centura senior vice president and chief values integration officer, recognized the hospital’s legacy and looked to the future.
“We are preparing this place to be a place of healing, in which all are welcome to a place that serves and serves with persons of all walks of life, cultural heritages and faith traditions,” he said. “Centura Health is a ministry of the Catholic Church and the Catholic tradition, its stories, its practices. It shares elements with other faith traditions, one of which is prayer, prayer and reflection.”
In his remarks, Peter D. Banko, Centura Health president and CEO, reflected on what this new chapter of Catholic health care in Utah will look like.
“We’re a purpose-driven, values-driven Catholic health system,” he said. “And that’s how we make decisions. So, we’re not just here to treat physical ailments, we’re here to take care of the whole person, mind, body, spirit. And that faith piece is part of it. I like to say we’re Catholic with a capital C and a small c, Catholic and staying true to the Church’s teaching and communion with the Church. But also catholic with a small c and that we’re universal, that everyone here should feel welcome and belong — everybody.”
Centura plans to be in Utah for a long time, he said, noting that the company has “been around since 1875, our oldest hospital [was built] in 1882 and we’ve never sold it. When we think, we think about centuries, not decades or five-year periods, so we’re looking forward to a long period of time where our children and grandchildren will get to see what we’ve done here together.”
Banko then introduced Sister Joan Stedman, CSC and Sister Suzanne Brennan, CSC, who both served at Holy Cross Hospital before it was sold. The sisters shared some of the history of their order and their time in Utah.
“Our mission, I know, will continue, and it’s been a joy to hear the direction that is before you,” Sr. Joan said. “And I would want to express, on behalf of all of us, our gratitude to all who served with us in mission while we were here and our gratitude to you for carrying your new mission forward.”
Bishop Oscar A. Solis then welcomed CommonSpirit Health to Utah on behalf of the diocese, extending “to you our heartfelt greetings and welcome the community that treats people care with love, compassion, and treats one other with the kind of charity that encompasses any kind of boundaries that separate it. It is a tribute to the sisters and their Catholic heritage that the hospital has been returned to its original name. Today, we celebrate their core values of compassion, faith, prayer and service to the community. The Father of mercies and God of all … shows his love and blessing in a particular way on those who are in distress. … I ask for God’s blessing on all those who are patients here and on those who devote themselves to caring for the sick.”
After a prayer Bishop Solis blessed a cross and two historic paintings that will hang in the hospital.
The hospitals that have been acquired by CommonSpirit Health/Centura Health are the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City, the Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Jordan Valley Medical Center-West Valley Campus in West Valley City and Mountain Point Medical Center in Lehi. Each of these will be renamed Holy Cross Hospital with a location designation; the umbrella organization will be called Holy Cross Medical Group.
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