Ethan Rhodes
Ascension is a large private Catholic healthcare system in the United States. It is one of the largest nonprofit Catholic health systems in the country, with 142,000 employees, 142 hospitals, and 40 senior living facilities operating in 19 states and the District of Columbia as of the end of 2021. In 2024, Ascension sold five hospitals in Alabama to the University of Alabama Health System for $450 million. These hospitals include St. Vincent's Birmingham, St. Vincent's East, St. Vincent's Blount, St. Vincent's St. Clair, and St. Vincent's Chilton. The deal was expected to close in the fall of 2024, pending regulatory and Catholic Church approvals.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of Ascension hospitals in Alabama | 5 |
| Name of the hospitals | Ascension St. Vincent's Health System |
| Hospitals acquired by | University of Alabama Health System |
| Hospitals located in | Birmingham, Blount, Chilton, East and St. Clair |
| Other acquisitions | One Nineteen Campus, Trussville Freestanding Emergency Department, imaging centres, and clinics that are part of Ascension Medical Group |
| Number of caregivers and associates | 5,000 |
| Deal value | $450 million |
| Expected deal closure | Fall 2024 |
| Ascension's financial losses | $3 billion in 2023 and $900 million in 2022 |
| Number of hospitals owned by Ascension | 140-142 |
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What You'll Learn
Ascension St. Vincent's Health System
In June 2024, it was announced that the University of Alabama (UAB) Health System would take over Ascension St. Vincent's Health System in central Alabama. The acquisition includes all Ascension St. Vincent's sites of care, including St. Vincent's hospitals in Birmingham, Blount, Chilton, and Shelby. UAB's Board of Trustees unanimously approved the agreement, with CEO Dawn Bulgarella stating that the merger would ensure continued access to trusted healthcare services and a larger care network for patients.
Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a full-service hospital with 24/7 emergency care, trauma care, and specialty care. The hospital has been nationally recognized for its efforts and has consistently been ranked by HealthGrades in areas such as heart care, critical care, gastrointestinal care, and stroke care. The hospital also has a comprehensive stroke center, transplant center, neuroscience center, and brain tumor center.
Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis offers a wide range of services, including heart and vascular health, orthopedics, stroke care, cardiac rehabilitation, and critical care. Their OB-GYN maternity care teams provide a personalized birthing experience, and the hospital also offers a variety of minimally invasive procedures, imaging, lab tests, and rehabilitation services on one campus.
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University of Alabama Health System
The University of Alabama Health System is Alabama's largest higher education enterprise, comprising three institutions that deliver teaching, research, and service programs. It is a driver of economic, intellectual, and cultural growth in the state.
The University Medical Center (UMC) is part of the University of Alabama Health System. It offers a safe and convenient way to engage with healthcare through its Patient Portal, which allows patients to request medication refills online, receive reminders, and send secure messages to their providers. UMC also offers an online service for patients to pay and manage their healthcare bills, saving their payment and healthcare information securely in a digital wallet. As a UMC patient, you are protected against surprise medical bills and have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate of medical costs.
UAB Medicine is another part of the University of Alabama Health System. It is recognized as one of the top academic medical centers in the nation, delivering quality patient care and research.
In 2022, Ascension St. Vincent's Health System was taken over by the Alabama Health System Authority. This means that the University of Alabama Health System may now include hospitals previously owned by Ascension.
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UAB Health System
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System is a leading academic medical centre and a recognized pioneer in patient care and research. The UAB Hospital, also known as University Hospital, is the flagship property of the UAB Health System and the University of Alabama System. It is a 1,207-bed tertiary hospital and academic health science centre located in Birmingham, Alabama.
The hospital was established in 1945 as the teaching hospital for the University of Alabama School of Medicine, which moved from the University of Alabama's main campus in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Birmingham. UAB Hospital is the primary teaching hospital for the UAB School of Medicine, with seven of its speciality programs ranked among the top 50 in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in 2006. Five of these seven ranked programs were in the top 25, making UAB Hospital one of only 176 institutions nationwide to be studied and the only hospital in Alabama recognised by the magazine's "Best Hospitals" list.
In 2005-2006, UAB Hospital achieved the Consumer Choice Award of the National Research Corp (NRC). This award placed UAB among only three hospitals in Alabama and 207 of the 3,000 hospitals in the US that have received this distinction. UAB Hospital was the only hospital in Birmingham to be honoured with this award, placing it alongside prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Duke University Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic.
The hospital has expanded over the years, growing to occupy around 20 surrounding medical buildings. In 1992, UAB opened "The Kirklin Clinic", a 5-story outpatient facility. In November 2004, the hospital opened its new 885,000-foot, 11-story building named North Pavilion, which includes 37 operating suites, two procedure rooms, four intensive care units, and a large emergency department.
The UAB Health System has shown a commitment to innovation and improvement by investing in a new electronic health record platform, EPIC, in September 2024. This platform will streamline processes for care providers and staff and allow patients' medical records to be seamlessly accessible across the UAB Health System, regardless of where they are treated.
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Birmingham, Blount, Chilton, East and St. Clair hospitals
In 2022, Ascension was a large private Catholic healthcare system with 142 hospitals operating in 19 US states and Washington, D.C. As a Catholic institution, Ascension follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which means that doctors are forbidden from performing abortions, even if the mother's life is at risk.
In August 2022, Ascension St. Vincent's Health System was taken over by the Alabama Health System Authority. Ascension St. Vincent's had locations in Birmingham, Trussville, Pell City, Chilton County, Blount County, and Highway 119.
Ascension St. Vincent's Blount, located in Oneonta, Alabama, has been recognized for its excellence in pulmonary care. Ascension St. Vincent's Chilton is located in Clanton, Alabama. Saint Vincent's Saint Clair is a medical facility in Pell City, Alabama.
In November 2024, Ascension St. Vincent's officially became UAB St. Vincent's.
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Financial losses and cyberattacks
Ascension is one of the largest non-profit and Catholic health systems in the United States. It operates 142 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities across 19 states and the District of Columbia. In 2021, Ascension reported an operating revenue of $27.2 billion.
In May 2024, Ascension suffered a large-scale ransomware attack that affected 5.6 million patients across the country. The attack forced Ascension to divert ambulances, close pharmacies, and take critical IT systems offline. This resulted in a delay in patient care, with doctors and nurses resorting to paper and handwritten treatment orders to record patient information.
The financial impact of the cyberattack was significant. In its fourth-quarter fiscal year results for 2024, Ascension reported an operating loss of $1.8 billion. The company also experienced a decrease in volumes of 8% to 12% in May and June 2024 compared to the previous year due to delays and postponed surgeries.
In response to the financial losses and the cyberattack, Ascension began selling hospitals. In March 2025, Prime Healthcare acquired eight Chicago-area hospitals and seven senior living and care facilities from Ascension. Additionally, Ascension St. Vincent's Health System was taken over by the Alabama Health System Authority in August 2022.
To recover from the cyberattack, Ascension has been working to restore access to electronic health records (EHR) and address staff safety concerns. Regular training sessions have been conducted to improve staff members' skills in navigating the challenges posed by the attack.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, there are Ascension hospitals in Alabama.
There are five Ascension hospitals in Alabama.
The Ascension hospitals in Alabama are named after the places where they are located: Birmingham, Blount, Chilton, East and St. Clair.
Yes, the Ascension hospitals in Alabama are part of Ascension St. Vincent's Health System.
As of November 1, 2024, Ascension St. Vincent's Health System is owned by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System Authority.
