St. Joseph Health System Planning an Affiliation With Torrance Group

St. Joseph Health System, which operates St. Joseph Hospital and nine others, said Wednesday that it has tentatively agreed with a Roman Catholic health group in Torrance to form an affiliation, essentially a merger.

St. Joseph and Little Company of Mary Health Services would operate seven hospitals in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties, five more in Northern California and one in Lubbock, Texas.

The agreement is aimed at providing a wider base of hospitals and physicians to attract contracts with health-care plans and other health-care providers. It also is aimed at expanding each company’s Catholic mission, though non-Catholic hospitals may be added to the group.

St. Joseph would become the sole corporate member--or shareholder in for-profit parlance--of Little Company of Mary. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange and the Sisters of Little Company of Mary would share joint sponsorship--essentially ownership--of St. Joseph Health System.

Little Company of Mary, with $250,000 in revenue, would continue to operate under its own name with three hospitals in Torrance, San Pedro and Harbor City, Carter said.

St. Joseph, with 15,000 employees and more than $1 billion in revenue last year, also operates St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton and Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, among others.

The affiliation is expected to be completed late this year.

Meantime, St. Joseph is negotiating with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian about forging a relationship that would help Hoag better compete for business with large health plans, but would stop far short of a full-blown merger.