United they thrive: merger of two healthcare systems

On March 15, 1987, the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration of Colorado Springs and the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati agreed to consolidate. It marked the culmination of years of building mutual trust and months of intense negotiations. The Sisters of St. Francis realized in 1983 that some major decisions had to be made regarding the future direction of its healthcare ministry because of rapid changes within the healthcare industry and declining numbers of Franciscan sisters working in healthcare. In January 1986 leaders of the two institutes and their healthcare systems sat down for the first time to discuss issues surrounding the collaborative effort and to recommend a list of objectives, including joint ventures in various areas. Other recommendations included the formation of a joint steering council to direct the collaborative effort and the formation of a Colorado Springs Task Force to end the rivalry existing between two local hospitals--one Franciscan-sponsored, the other Charity-sponsored. Additional hurdles included finding an affiliation model that all parties would accept (the one endorsed allows the Sisters of St. Francis to continue to exercise substantial control over the future of its healthcare institutions but gives the Sisters of Charity Health Care System much of the operational control); due diligence reviews of legal and financial documents; canonical review; detailed financial analysis; review of all state and federal regulatory requirements, including antitrust; and educating and preparing members of the Franciscan Healthcare Corporation.