Two more health systems reach tentative SSM Health agreement

The wave of consolidations among health systems in Wisconsin is set to continue.

Agnesian HealthCare, which operates St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac and hospitals in Ripon and Waupun, would become part of SSM Health, which operates St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison and hospitals in Janesville and Baraboo, under a tentative agreement announced Tuesday.

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes has signed a letter of intent to transfer sponsorship of Agnesian HealthCare, based in Fond du Lac, and Monroe Clinic, based in Monroe, to SSM Health.

The two health systems hope to reach a definitive agreement this fall and to complete the transfer by the end of the year.

SSM Health, based in St. Louis, has 19 adult hospitals and one pediatric hospital and employs more than 1,600 physicians in Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. It had operating income of $10 million and net income of $98.7 million on revenue of $6.1 billion last year.

The health system, which bought Dean Health Systems, including Dean Health Plan, in 2013, employs 9,673 people in Wisconsin. It has about 50 clinics throughout south-central Wisconsin in addition to its hospitals.

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, which established the health ministries more than 100 years ago, initiated the proposed transfer.

“You will see more of this among the small Catholic systems,” said Jeffery Remsik, a marketing and strategy consultant for health systems. “It’s inevitable given the changes in health care.”