Risant Health to invest $1 billion in Cone Health
The Kaiser-created nonprofit is also giving up to $400M for value-based platform integration and $300M for growth opportunities.
Photo: Courtesy Cone Health
Risant Health will make available a minimum of $1 billion in capital to Cone Health over the next five years to support investments in facilities, health equity and other capital projects, according to a financial filing by Kaiser Permanente.
Risant Health will also assure funding of up to $400 million during the five-year Capital Commitment Period to support Cone Health's transition and integration into Risant Health, including initial implementation into the value-based platform.
The Kaiser-created nonprofit is also ensuring funding of up to $300 million for growth opportunities in the 10 years following the closing date with Cone Health.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals said in combined financial statements for the six months ended June 30 of this year and 2023.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals created Risant Health, headquartered in Washington D.C., in 2023, as a nonprofit, charitable organization with a mission to increase access to value-based care and coverage.
Geisinger Health was the first health system to join the organization in April 2023. Geisinger has a concentrated presence in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, outside the major metropolitan areas. The transaction was designed to accelerate value-based care with community-based health systems to deliver high-quality, equitable health outcomes, according to Kaiser.
In June, Cone Health became the second health system to join. Parent organization Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital entered into a definitive agreement with Risant for certain financial commitments.
Cone Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system based in Greensboro, North Carolina, that serves the Piedmont Triad of the state.
THE LARGER TREND
In a Q&A last year, former Geisinger CEO and president Dr. Jaewon Ryu, who is now CEO of Risant Health, told Healthcare Finance News that being part of Risant Health would allow Geisinger to access capital required to accelerate its charitable mission and strategy and expand its impact to other communities.
This includes offering Geisinger's health plan to national and multistate accounts, Ryu said.
Beyond capital, Risant Health's value-based care platform provides tools, technology and services to speed a drive to value. This transformation is important to managing the total health of a population, Ryu told the American Medical Association last month. The healthcare-delivery system's center of gravity is hospitals, he said, but it also must get further upstream for a focus on prevention, primary care, equity and other patient needs for quality outcomes and affordability.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org
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