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Ascension is an American Catholic health care system founded in 1999. The health care system operates 142 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities across the United States. It is led by president and chief executive officer Joseph R. Impicciche.

Company overview
Ascension is the largest nonprofit and Catholic health system in the United States. It operates more than 2,600 health care sites in 19 states and Washington, D.C., including 142 hospitals and 40 senior living facilities. It employs more than 142,000 people as of 2022. Ascension had an operating revenue of $27.2 billion at the end of fiscal year 2021. The company is led by president and CEO Joseph R. Impicciche and is headquartered in St. Louis,Missouri.

In addition to health and senior care facilities, Ascension also operates a for-profit venture capital subsidiary called Ascension Ventures, which invests in medical startups.

History
Ascension was formed in 1999 as Ascension Health, the result of a merger between the Daughters of Charity National Health System and the Sisters of St. Joseph Health System. Over the next 15 years, the company would continue to purchase other health systems in the United States, becoming the largest Catholic and nonprofit health system in the country by 2014.

In 2012, the company underwent a restructuring and rebranding, dropping the "Health" moniker and going forward as Ascension. In the process, the company brought its subsidiaries under a national umbrella and renamed all its hospitals to include the Ascension name, a move Chief Marketing Officer Nick Ragone said would make it easier for patients to navigate the Ascension system.

The organization partnered with the Indian health care company Narayana Health in 2012 to open a $2 billion health city in the Cayman Islands. The facility opened in 2014, and Ascension sold its stake in the health city three years later.

In July 2017, a class-action lawsuit was brought against Ascension in federal court, alleging that an Ascension subsidiary had violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a law governing employee pensions. The suit was later that year for $29.5 million.

Ascension announced plans to make changes to its business model in 2018, shifting away from a hospital-oriented business to one prioritizing outpatient care and telemedicine. The move was made in response to decreased government reimbursements and higher costs of care.

The Wall Street Journal reported on a collaboration between Ascension and Google in 2019 to share health information about its patients with the technology company. Known as Project Nightingale, the groups said the purpose of the collaboration was to make it easier for physicians to access and search their patient records. The partnership drew some criticism over privacy concerns and the potential for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opened an investigation into the project in 2020.

Innovation and recognition
Several Ascension hospitals have been recognized for cardiovascular care, with three hospitals ranked in Fortune Magazine's 50 Best Cardiovascular Hospitals list in 2021.

In 2021, Ascension opened a pharmacy hub in Austin, Texas. The hub fills 5,000 prescriptions per shift and houses a "patient engagement center" designed to offer patients assistance with understanding their medication. Officials with the company have said they hope to reduce hospitalizations by improving at-home prescription management through the hub.

Coronavirus pandemic
Near the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, some Ascension hospitals in Wisconsin told uninsured patients they would not be charged for testing or treatment of COVID-19.

Ascension drew some criticism for receiving some $211 million in relief payments despite having $15.5 billion in cash reserves, enough to operate for eight months. However, Ascension pointed to the fact it had not laid off or furloughed any workers during this time.

The organization instituted a vaccine requirement across all its hospitals in 2021, drawing protests in some states over concerns from medical personnel that they would lose their jobs if they did not get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The same year, Ascension partnered with the Sixteenth Street Parkway Clinic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to administer COVID-19 vaccines in a viral hotspot in the city.

Community impact
Ascension launched the Medical Mission at Home program in 2007 in Tennessee as a method to expand care access to patients in need. The program began to expand to other states soon thereafter.

In 2015, Ascension partnered with the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center to start the Your Move Chess Program in Ferguson, Missouri, to help the community following the shooting of Michael Brown. The organization has worked with grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez to teach children how to play chess.

In 2021, Ascension partnered with PGA Tour Champions to hold the Ascension Charity Classic golf tournament in St. Louis. In its first year, the event raised more than $800,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, Marygrove, and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, among other groups.