Trinity Mother Frances joining with Christus Health

Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics and Christus Health have announced the finalization of an agreement that brings together these two health systems and will create Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System.

According to information from the organization, “this joining of two distinguished health systems will greatly strengthen both organizations, improving access to care for patients and expanding each organization’s service offerings. Most importantly, it will increase the capacity and ability to meet the ever-growing healthcare needs of East Texans through increased resources and innovative services.”

Christus Trinity Mother Frances will remain headquartered in Tyler, and will continue to be a hub for services and the foundation of Christus Health’s expansion in Northeast Texas, officials said.

“We pride ourselves on our commitment to bringing the best patient care and services to East Texas. This has been an integral part of Trinity Mother Frances' mission as a faith-based health provider for more than 75 years, and we will continue to realize that vision for East Texas for years to come as Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System,” said Lindsey Bradley, FACHE, senior vice president – Group Operations for Christus Health and Chief Executive Officer of Christus Northeast Texas.

“An alliance with Christus Health allows us to build upon the foundation set forth by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth many years ago with a partner that shares our faith-based values and dedication to quality care. We will not only continue to serve the people of East Texas diligently, but expand access to the highest quality healthcare as East Texans have come to expect.”

“We are two world-class healthcare organizations joining together to become even better. Christus Trinity Mother Frances is committed to maintaining that standard here, as regional hub for healthcare in East Texas. Today is the culmination of a journey we have been on over the last several months that will solidify world-class healthcare in East Texas for decades to come,” said Ray Thompson, FACHE, president, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System. “This is a day of celebration for our new health system and for the people of East Texas.”

“We are an integrated healthcare system, and a significant portion of that model of care is our trust in physician leadership,” said Steven P. Keuer, MD, chief medical officer, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System and president, Christus Trinity Clinic. “We approach actions with the mindset of ‘How will this affect the patient?’ Our goal is to keep the care of our patients as our priority. Christus Trinity Mother Frances reflects those values, and it is important for everyone to know that the physicians of this organization were deeply involved in this process from the beginning and that they wholeheartedly endorse this agreement and our plans moving forward.”

“Our process of evaluation and the deeper dive of due diligence have given us the opportunity to get to know the people of Christus Health and their organization on a personal level and to find common ground,” said Scott Smith, Senior Vice President and Institute Chief, Primary Care, Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System. “It gives us a sense of comfort, of hope and of pure joy to be able to finalize this agreement and to begin to grow our service to East Texas.”

“The formation of Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System has created a platform that we believe will provide significant expansion opportunities and healthcare options throughout the East Texas region and beyond,” said Ernie Sadau, chief executive officer for Christus Health. “Together we have forged an even stronger Catholic healthcare system East Texans will depend on for years to come. We believe that growing our network of facilities in Northeast Texas will allow Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System to expand access to care in the region, as well as continue to improve on the award-winning quality of care we provide. It will also offer us more opportunities to pursue new models of healthcare delivery that depend on a strong geographic presence, ensuring that the residents of Tyler and across East Texas continue to have access to high quality healthcare and the latest ways of accessing the care they need.”

As part of the agreement mapped out by executive leadership from Christus and TMFHC and put into effect last week, TMFHC has become part of the Christus Health system to form Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System. Lindsey Bradley, Ray Thompson, Dr. Steven Keuer and Sr. Loretta Theresa Felici, of the Catholic Order of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, will join the Christus Board of Directors.

Sr. Barbara Jean Wojnicki, the Provincial Superior of the Holy Family Province (USA), will join the system as a member, and will attend board meetings in this capacity. The current Trinity Mother Frances Board of Directors will remain in place, though there may be some additions, and it will become the Board of Directors for Christus Trinity Mother Frances.

The Catholic order of the Sisters of The Holy Family of Nazareth has become a third sponsoring congregation of Christus Health, in addition to its two founding sponsoring congregations, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio.

The Trinity Mother Frances Foundation will remain and will continue to stay within the Tyler community.

Donors can continue to designate specific health projects and causes as they always have, organizers said.

For more information about CHRISTUS Health, TMFHC and their healthcare offerings visit http://www.christushealth.org/.