Press Releases: Colorado
November 13, 2009
Kaiser Permanente and Penrose-St. Francis Health Services Sign Agreement to Expand Hospital Services
Hospital contract will increase access to affordable, quality health care in the Colorado Springs area, giving Kaiser Permanente commercial members more choice, more convenience
COLORADO SPRINGS – Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Centura Health have entered into a new three-year hospital services agreement with Penrose-St. Francis Health Services in Colorado Springs which will provide Kaiser Permanente commercially insured members in Southern Colorado with more choice and flexibility when accessing hospital care close to home.
Effective Jan. 1, 2010, the facilities of Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, including Penrose Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center, are in-network providers for Kaiser Permanente commercially insured members. The agreement with Centura Health and Penrose-St. Francis Health Services will provide the Kaiser Permanente members with additional choices for hospital care and is the culmination of more than 6-months of dialogue between the two healthcare organizations.
"Our members have long expressed a desire to have Penrose-St. Francis Health Services return as a part of our network," said Mark Iorio, executive director, Network Development and Market Expansion, Kaiser Permanente Colorado. "This change is not only an effort to be responsive to our members and local businesses but it also represents a high-quality and affordable addition to our already outstanding health care network in Southern Colorado."
"Kaiser Permanente has been a great model in our community for wellness and prevention, and we're thrilled to partner with them," said Margaret Sabin, President & CEO of Penrose-St. Francis Health Services. "We look forward to developing a meaningful and effective relationship, one that will bring best practices forward to improve quality, consistency, availability and affordability of health care in the communities we serve."
About Penrose-St. Francis Health Services
Penrose-St. Francis Health Services is a full-service, 522-bed acute care facility offering a full complement of emergency, medical and surgical services. Penrose-St. Francis was named was of "America’s 50 Best Hospitals" for 2008 and 2009 by HealthGrades, the only recipient in Colorado. Penrose-St. Francis is part of Centura Health, Colorado's largest hospital and health care network delivering advanced care to more than half a million people each year, across 12 hospitals, seven senior living communities, medical clinics, Flight For Life® and home care and hospice services. Penrose-St. Francis' and Centura's strength lies in the ability to offer a team of connected networks and shared resources to deliver accessible, reliable and cost-effective health care across the state. For more information about Penrose-St. Francis Health Services, visit www.penrosestfrancis.org or the Media Room at http://psf.mediaroom.com/.
About Kaiser Permanente Colorado
Kaiser Permanente Colorado is the state's largest nonprofit health plan, proudly working to improve the lives and health of Denver, Boulder, and Southern Colorado area residents for 40 years. Kaiser Permanente Colorado provides comprehensive health care services to 480,000 members through 20 medical offices and a network of affiliated hospitals and physicians. The health plan has been named as the No. 1 Medicare plan and No. 13 commercial health insurance plan in the nation according to a joint ranking by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), and was recently named “Highest in Member Satisfaction” among Commercial Health Plans by J.D. Power and Associates, for the second year in a row. In 2008, Kaiser Permanente directed more than $50 million to community benefit programs to improve the health of all Coloradans. Visit us online at kp.org or get the latest in health news at our News Center.