Providence and Premier, Inc. Join CommonSpirit to Support the Development of the Healthcare Workforce

PHOENIX – November 9, 2022 - Leading healthcare organizations are partnering with Dignity Health Global Education (DHGE), a CommonSpirit Health company, to support the national workforce challenges by investing in their most important asset, their people. Providence, a not-for-profit health system serving the Western U.S., and Premier Inc., a healthcare improvement and technology company with an alliance of more than 4,400 U.S. health systems and 250,000 providers and other organizations, will partner with DHGE to bring its solutions to hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals nationwide.

A 2022 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report found that more than one in four (25.9%) hospital and staff RNs have switched employers or exited the bedside in 2021, an increase of 6.4%. Approximately ⅓ of all new hires left within their first year.

“Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare industry was facing workforce challenges. Our partnership with DHGE is helping to support caregivers at our family of organizations through quality education and development so that we can be part of the solution. Investing in professional development for the nation’s caregivers will assist us in stabilizing the workforce,” said Dr. Sylvain Trepanier, Chief Nursing Officer of Providence.

DHGE’s learning solutions support healthcare organizations in retaining, upskilling, and reskilling their workforce. DHGE partners with leading academic institutions such as Duke CE, Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, and the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, as well as top industry experts such as CEOs, CNOs, and CFOs to develop degree and certificate programs specifically for healthcare professionals, alongside fully customized education solutions for healthcare groups. Most recently, DHGE launched the country’s largest and most comprehensive nursing residency program across 21 states with CommonSpirit Health to address national high attrition rates among first-year nurses.

“Employee turnover has been a significant factor in increased hospital costs, and our own research shows that providers today are spending $24 billion more per year than they were in 2020 to attract and retain clinical talent. Our partnership and investment in DHGE aligns with our mission to improve the health of communities, with an eye toward solutions that improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare,” said Leigh Anderson, Premier’s President of Performance Service.

DHGE was established in 2019 as a joint venture between CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest health systems with 150,000 employees, and Global University Systems, a worldwide education network with over 70,000 students. The investment by Providence and Premier will expand DHGE’s impact and help re-engineer how education gets delivered across the country.

“We are thrilled to now have two of the top three not-for-profit health systems, as well as one of the largest healthcare group purchasing organizations in America, as partners and investors. Today is an incredible milestone in our journey to become the preeminent workforce development platform for the healthcare sector. With our shareholder expertise and involvement, alongside our world-class digital platform, DHGE will offer more healthcare organizations expert-driven education with best-in-class delivery, supported by an increasing amount of data, assessment, and reporting. We are also driving a more sustainable, high-quality model for ed-tech where product and experience take precedence over marketing, and the trust of our new partners bears that out,” said Andrew Malley, Chief Executive Officer of DHGE.

About Dignity Health Global Education

Dignity Health Global Education (DHGE) is the leading healthcare workforce development company. Dedicated to providing customized educational opportunities and a student-centric experience, DHGE develops online programs and workforce development solutions with industry, for industry. We achieve this goal by partnering with top-ranked academic institutions and thought-leading professionals.

About CommonSpirit Health

CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. It was created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health. With its national office in Chicago and a team of over 150,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 142 hospitals and nearly 2,200 care sites across 21 states. In FY 2021, CommonSpirit had revenues of $34.4 billion and provided $4.9 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed government programs. Learn more at www.commonspirit.org.

About Providence

Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 52 hospitals, over 900 clinics, senior services, supportive housing, and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ nearly 120,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif. Learn about our vision of health for a better world at www.Providence.org.

About Premier, Inc.

Premier, Inc. is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 4,400 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 250,000 other providers and organizations to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and consulting and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Premier’s blog, for more information about the company.