Kaufman Hall Advised Kootenai Health and Providence Health & Services on Forming an Alliance

SKOKIE, Ill. – July 21, 2017 – A joint venture between Kootenai Health (Kootenai) and Providence Health & Services (Providence) was announced in early June 2017. The new not-for-profit entity will be known as: Kootenai Providence Health Alliance. The Alliance will have its own board with equal representation from both organizations.

Kaufman Hall served as the exclusive advisor in this facilitated partnership.

Kootenai Health provides comprehensive medical services to patients in northern Idaho and the Inland Northwest. Its main campus is located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and includes a 292-bed community-owned hospital.

Providence Health and Services, the third largest not-for-profit health system in the United States, operates 34 hospitals across Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Kootenai and Providence (collectively, the “Members”) have been working together as partners in recent years to better serve the communities of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho to address key health issues in the region while allowing for continued independent growth.

As the facilitator of this new affiliation arrangement, Kaufman Hall worked with the members to form an Executive Committee, which included executives from both organizations and would serve as the decision-making body and system-level liaison for the proposed partnership. Kaufman Hall facilitated two major work streams in the partnership process: organization development and strategic initiative development. Ultimately, the Executive Committee decided a joint venture was the appropriate legal structure to facilitate the further development of strategic initiatives.

“Given our mutual interest in creating healthier communities, the alliance helps both organizations achieve their visions by creating the legal and business structure needed to appropriately share data and resources, and work together on selected clinical programs,” adds Elaine Couture, executive vice president and chief executive of Providence Eastern Washington & Montana. “By working together through the alliance, Kootenai and Providence have the opportunity to better coordinate health care services for consumers in the communities we serve, improve access to care, and innovate in care delivery,” she said.

“Kootenai Health is a public hospital that is owned by our community,” said Jon Ness, chief executive officer of Kootenai Health. “This alliance is an important step toward maintaining that independence through strong, shared clinical programs that advance quality and access to specialized services close to home.”

Innovative collaborations are emerging as healthcare organizations seek synergies to succeed in a value-based business model that demands expanded scale. Listen to this Kaufman Hall podcast for insight. 

Kaufman Hall assisted the Executive Committee and counsel in the drafting and negotiation of a letter of intent, as well as definitive documentation related to the formation of the joint venture organization. It also facilitated the development of detailed business proposals to aid the Members and their respective organizations in the decision-making process.

To learn more about how Kaufman Hall is assisting healthcare providers with strategic partnerships, contact Patrick Allen at pallen@kaufmanhall.com or 847.441.8780.

About Kaufman Hall

Kaufman Hall provides management consulting and software to help organizations realize sustained success amid changing market conditions. Since 1985, Kaufman Hall has been a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams, helping them incorporate proven methods into their strategic planning and financial management processes, and quantify the financial impact of their plans and strategic decisions to consistently achieve their goals.

Kaufman Hall services use a rigorous, disciplined, and structured approach that is based on the principles of corporate finance. The breadth and integration of Kaufman Hall advisory services are unparalleled, encompassing strategy; financial and capital planning; cost transformation; treasury and capital markets management; and mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures.

Kaufman Hall software includes the Axiom Healthcare Suite, providing sophisticated, flexible performance management solutions that empower finance professionals to analyze results, model the future, and optimize organizational decision making. Solutions for long-range planning, budgeting and forecasting, performance reporting, capital planning, and cost accounting deliver decision support, reporting, and analytics within an integrated software platform. Kaufman Hall’s Peak Software empowers healthcare organizations with clinical benchmarks, data, and analytics to provide a higher quality of care for optimized performance and improved patient outcomes.