Trinity Health (Livonia, Michigan) - Trinity Health

Trinity Health is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system operating 86 hospitals in 21 states, along with several long-term care facilities, senior living communities, and home health and hospice agencies. Based in Livonia, Michigan, Trinity Health employs more than 120,000 people including 3,900 physicians.

Trinity Health operates facilities in the U.S. states of Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

Trinity Health is sponsored by Catholic Health Ministries, an entity established by the Roman Catholic Church to oversee the healing ministry and Catholic identity of Trinity Health.

History

In May 2000, Trinity Health was formed through a merger between Holy Cross Health System in South Bend, Indiana, and Mercy Health Services in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The new organization initially comprised 25 health ministries across seven statesâ€"California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and Ohioâ€"with 45,000 employees and 7,000 physicians. Trinity Health’s headquarters were established first in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and later in Novi, Michigan. At the time, Trinity Health was the 10th largest health system in the nation and the fourth largest Catholic health care system in the country, by total number of hospitals and total bed count, respectively. It operated 47 acute-care hospitals, 432 outpatient facilities, 32 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs in 10 states.

Holy Cross Health System

Holy Cross Health System has its roots in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, founded in 1841 by Blessed Basil Anthony Moreau. During the Civil War, Holy Cross Sisters helped staff military hospitals, caring for the wounded of both North and South. Over the next 100 years, the Sisters opened hospitals and other health care facilities throughout the country, responding to the needs of the times. In 1979 Holy Cross Health System was formed to unite the health care organizations sponsored by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross.

When it merged with Mercy Health Services in 2000 to form Trinity Health, Holy Cross Health System was based in South Bend, Indiana, and operated 13 hospitals in five states (California, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio). Its subsidiaries included long-term care facilities, a physician practice management company, a benefits and insurance services group, and a college of nursing.

Mercy Health Services

Mercy Health Services was founded in 1976 and based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It was sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Detroit Regional Community. Mercy Health Services operated 39 hospitals in Iowa and Michigan. Its subsidiaries were engaged in rehabilitation, home care/hospice, long-term care, health plans and international health services, along with an architectural firm.

Mercy Health Services' origins date to 1831, when Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland. Over the next 10 years, she and her Sisters established 14 foundations to serve the poor, the sick and the uneducated throughout Ireland and England. After McAuley's death in 1841, the Sisters of Mercy took their mission to America, where they founded hospitals, schools and orphanages, and established homes for women and girls at risk.

Catholic Health East

In May 2013, Trinity Health merged with Catholic Health East (CHE), Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. CHE Trinity Health became the operating name while naming options for the new entity were being explored. In November 2014, the new identity, Trinity Health, was announced along with the unveiling of a branding strategy and logo.

Catholic Health East was formed in 1998. At the time of the merger in May 2013, Catholic Health East was a multi-institutional Catholic health system, co-sponsored by eight religious congregations and Hope Ministries, a Public Juridic Person within Catholic Health East. Based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, CHE had operations in 11 eastern states from Maine to Florida. It comprised 35 acute care hospitals, four long-term acute care hospitals, 26 freestanding and hospital-based long-term care facilities, 12 assisted-living facilities, four continuing care retirement communities, eight behavioral health and rehabilitation facilities, 31 home health/hospice agencies and numerous ambulatory and community-based health services.

Divestures

In 2015, Trinity divested three of their financially struggling facilities to for-profit Prime Healthcare Services, including:

St. Joseph Mercy Port Huron Hospital, Port Huron, Michigan- sold September 2015 in a $37.5 million transaction.

Mercy Suburban Hospital, East Norriton, Pennsylvania- sold in March 2015 in a $35 million transaction;

Saint Michael's Medical Center, Newark, New Jersey- sold to Prime Healthcare ina $62 million bankruptcy sale.

Ethical and religious directives

As a Catholic health care provider, Trinity Health hospitals embrace and follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The directives guide health care facilities in making decisions about care and services in a way that is consistent with Catholic faith beliefs.

Catholic restrictions on services

A typical member of Trinity Health, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) of Ann Arbor, says on a Web entry: "As a Catholic organization, SJMHS prohibits its staff from dispensing or prescribing contraceptives and from performing vasectomies, female sterilizations, and elective abortions."

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