The healthcare organizations of CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason have united to form Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.

As part of CommonSpirit Health, the non-profit, Catholic parent company of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, the new integrated system will increase access to care with hundreds of sites across western Washington, officials said.

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health will operate 11 hospitals and nearly 300 care sites overall, including primary and specialty-care clinics, same-day surgery centers, Benaroya Research Institute (autoimmune disease research), Bailey-Boushay House Bailey-Boushay House (the first skilled-nursing and outpatient chronic-care management program in the U.S. for people with HIV/AIDS patients), and Virginia Mason Institute (training for healthcare professionals). The organization has more than 18,000 employees, including nearly 5,000 physicians and affiliated providers.

Patients will continue to use their same site of care and their current insurance plans. If there are any changes, patients will be informed “well in advance,” a spokesman said.

Previously, CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason partnered on obstetric and women’s health – opening a new birth center and women’s health clinic in Seattle last year –and had a radiation oncology partnership at St. Anne Hospital in Burien and St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way. Those partnerships demonstrated the positive impact when the two systems work together and will serve as the model for their new, expanded integration, officials said.

Other hospitals in the new venture include Virginia Mason in Seattle, St. Anthony in Gig Harbor, St. Clare in Lakewood, St. Elizabeth in Enumclaw, St. Joseph in Tacoma, St. Michael in Silverdale, and Wellfound Behavioral Health Hospital in Tacoma.

CommonSpirit Health, created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health, has a national headquarters in Chicago and operates 137 hospitals and 1,000-plus care sites in 21 states. In fiscal year 2019, Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health had combined revenues of nearly $29 billion and $4.4 billion in charity care and unreimbursed government programs.