Three of the country’s largest nonprofit health systems are planning to sell hospitals and other assets as they work to streamline operations, sharpen their strategic focus and improve financial performance amid ongoing industry pressures.
Chicago-based CommonSpirit sold CHI St. Alexius Health Devils Lake (N.D.) — a 25-bed critical access hospital — to Grand Forks, N.D.-based Altru Health System, effective March 1, and is in talks to sell 6 more hospitals.
The 137-hospital system plans to sell three more hospitals to Altru Health: CHI St. Alexius Health in Bismarck, CHI St. Alexius Health Turtle Lake and CHI St. Alexius Health Garrison. CommonSpirit is also in talks to sell Trinity Health System — a separate three-hospital network headquartered in Steubenville, Ohio, to Pittsburgh-based UPMC.
Renton, Wash.-based Providence is exploring the sale of its insurance arm — Providence Health Plan — and divesting select hospital and health system assets as part of a broader push to stabilize its finances and sharpen its strategic focus.
The 51-hospital system in April signed a definitive agreement to sell Queen of the Valley Medical Center — a 198-bed hospital in Napa, Calif. — to San Francisco-based NorthBay Health.
The health system has recently sold several non-core assets, including the Jan. 1 sale of its clinical decision support tool, MedPearl, to Health Endeavors. Providence sold its health IT consulting arm — Tegria Services Group — to healthcare-focused investment firm Altaris in January. Last year, it sold 10 skilled nursing facilities to The Ensign Group and transitioned its home health and hospice business to a joint venture with home-based care firm Compassus as part of a wider restructuring.
Providence Mission Hospital Laguna Beach (Calif.) also plans to phase out acute care and emergency services over several years, citing low patient volumes and the high cost of required seismic upgrades. On average, 80% of the hospital’s 159 beds are unused each day, a spokesperson for the health system told Becker’s.
Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health in April signed a definitive agreement to sell Mercy Medical Center, a 182-bed hospital in Springfield, Mass., to Baystate Health. Mercy Medical Center has faced ongoing financial challenges tied to reimbursement pressures, declining payment rates, outpatient migration and staffing shortages, the health system said in an April 28 news release.
The divestitures come as all three systems continue working toward financial stability.
CommonSpirit ended fiscal 2025 — the 12 months ending June 30, 2025 — with a $225 million operating loss (-0.6% margin), improving on a $875 million loss (-2.4% margin) from the prior year. Trinity Health reported a $12.2 million operating loss (0% margin) in the fiscal 2025, improving on a $68.4 million loss (-0.3% margin) posted in the previous fiscal year. Providence reported a $486 million operating loss (-1.7% margin) in 2025, compared to a $546 million loss (-1.9% margin) in 2024.
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