Regulators approve SCL Health merger with Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare

BROOMFIELD — Local care provider SCL Health and Utah-based health nonprofit Intermountain Healthcare will merge after receiving approval from the Colorado attorney general’s office. A review conducted by the Colorado Department of Law found there would be no change to the organizations’ charitable missions and no material transfer of assets out of Colorado. 

The merger between the two health groups closed March 31, and further statements on future plans will be announced April 5.

The headquarters of Intermountain Healthcare will remain in Salt Lake City, while SCL Health’s facilities in Broomfield will become a regional office after the merger. Officials from the department of law found no evidence access to health care services in communities served by SCL Health would be reduced.

SCL Health is a nonprofit Catholic health system operating in Colorado, Kansas and Montana. The merger with Intermountain Healthcare would span 33 hospitals in six states. SCL Health was founded in 1864 by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, a Catholic organization offering health care across the western United States. 

Intermountain Healthcare operates 25 hospitals in Idaho, Nevada and Utah. The Salt Lake City-based nonprofit employs around 42,000 workers in the region. The merger will combine staff from both organizations, employing more than 58,000 health care workers. No layoffs or transfers are expected with the merger.

Statements from the companies have pointed to the merger as a new model for secular and faith-based health organizations to operate in tandem. The secular Intermountain Healthcare will operate all facilities being merged, but allow SCL Health hospitals to retain their traditional Catholic names and community boards.

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