AdventHealth, Intermountain plan to jointly run Denver hospitals

Two of America’s largest nonprofit hospital systems are planning to form a joint venture to operate several hospitals in Colorado.

AdventHealth and Intermountain Health announced the planned joint venture Tuesday. They have signed a letter of intent on a joint venture involving eight hospitals and their associated clinics and outpatient facilities in the Denver area. The partnership would include five AdventHealth hospitals and three Intermountain hospitals.

Under the plans, AdventHealth will manage and lead the daily operations of the hospitals and the clinics. The two systems say that they expect to reach a definitive agreement in the coming weeks.

They hope to complete the deal in early 2027, but regulators must sign off on the transaction.

David Banks, president and CEO of AdventHealth, said the goal is to offer improved services and better access to care. AdventHealth says it aims to deliver its whole-person care approach.

“Partnering with Intermountain Health represents an opportunity to build on our shared commitment to deliver high-quality, compassionate care,” Banks said in a statement.

Rob Allen, president and CEO of Intermountain Health, said the two systems both have a long-term commitment to the Denver metro area.

“We look forward to working with AdventHealth, who is strongly aligned in their focus on mission and compassionate care,” Allen said in a post on LinkedIn. “This opportunity for Intermountain and AdventHealth to work together will expand access and create a more connected experience for patients and care teams in the area.”

The planned venture includes AdventHealth’s five hospitals in the Denver area: AdventHealth Avista; AdventHealth Castle Rock; AdventHealth Littleton; AdventHealth Parker; and AdventHealth Porter.

The Intermountain hospitals are Good Samaritan Hospital, Lutheran Hospital and Platte Valley Hospital. The joint venture would also include off-site emergency and urgent care centers and other clinics.

The joint venture would not include Intermountain Health’s Saint Joseph Hospital and affiliated clinics. The systems say Saint Joseph will remain true to its Catholic mission. Intermountain is still exploring options, including potential partnerships, for those facilities.AdventHealth is a faith-based system, and Banks said the efforts to expand care in the Denver area will be “guided by our mission of extending the healing ministry of Christ.”

AdventHealth has established a greater presence in Colorado in recent years. The system took over management of the Colorado hospitals in July 2023 after ending a long-running affiliation with CommonSpirit Health.

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive® in April, Banks, who took over as AdventHealth’s CEO a little over a year ago, said the system has been working to solidify its position in Colorado.

“In Denver, we came out of a long-term partnership, getting our footing back under us,” Banks said. “We've really been focused on that for the last two years, have made great progress in that.”

AdventHealth operates 57 hospitals and more than 2,000 care sites in nine states. Fitch Ratings assigned a “AA” rating and a stable outlook to AdventHealth this week. Fitch noted AdventHealth’s continued growth and says the system operates “primarily in markets with favorable demographics.”

Denver certainly qualifies. The city has grown by 3.5% since 2020, adding 25,000 residents, according to Census data. The Denver metro area, which includes communities surrounding the Mile High City, has added about 82,000 people since 2020, according to U.S. census estimates.

AdventHealth is in the midst of significant upgrades across its footprint. The system is in the process of installing “smart rooms” with more digital capabilities. The system has converted more than half of its rooms to “smart rooms” and aims to finish the job this year.

A nonprofit system, Intermountain operates 34 hospitals and about 400 clinics in six states.