The Empire Health Foundation will discontinue its role as a member of Inland Northwest Health Services, leaving Providence Health Care as INHS's lone member. As part of the restructuring, Providence is making a $40 million donation to the foundation.
In a joint press conference with the foundation and INHS late this morning, Providence Chief Executive Elaine Couture said Providence will make the $40 million donation in one lump-sum payment next month.
INHS CEO Tom Fritz said the restructuring isn't expected to change the organization's current operations or its status as an independent nonprofit. INHS, however, might have more opportunities to expand its services to Providence operations outside of the Inland Northwest, Fritz said.
Antony Chiang, president of Empire Health Foundation, said the restructuring is an "absolutely logical step" that will allow the foundation to expand its mission of health philanthropy and grant making.
Once it has the Providence donation in hand, the foundation will have a total health-philanthropy endowment of $86 million, which Chiang said likely would make it the largest health care-focused foundation in Washington state.
The Empire Health Foundation became involved in INHS in 2011 after Community Health Systems Inc., the Franklin, Tenn.-based for-profit hospital operator that owns Rockwood Health System here, transferred its membership to the foundation. CHS had acquired an interest in INHS when it bought Empire Health Services in 2008.
Founded in 1994 as a nonprofit collaborative to manage Northwest MedStar, St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, and other services for Spokane-area hospitals, INHS has more than 1,000 employees and has expanded its services through the years to include health-records management, telemedicine, and health training, among others.