{"id":865717,"date":"2026-09-30T09:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/865717\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T09:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:36:16","slug":"ardent-health-transfers-full-ownership-of-st-francis-campus-to-ku-health-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/865717\/","title":{"rendered":"Ardent Health transfers full ownership of St. Francis Campus to KU Health System"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Ardent Health announced <\/a>that it will be stepping down from its role overseeing the University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus in Topeka. <\/p>\n

Officials with the St. Francis Campus<\/a> held a press conference Tuesday with the update. <\/p>\n

View the full announcement here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health joined forces in 2017 to oversee the operations and management of the St. Francis Campus after its owner at the time, SCL Health, threatened to stop operating the hospital if they couldn\u2019t find a buyer. <\/p>\n

At that time, the hospital was facing several financial troubles. But officials say since then the hospital has thrived, maintaining jobs in Topeka and serving its patients. <\/p>\n

Officials say patients will not experience any changes following the decision and will be able to continue accessing the services they need. <\/p>\n

\u201cPatients will be able to continue accessing the same services, the same providers that they know and that they trust,\u201d said Tammy Peterman, president of KU Health, Kansas City division. \u201cThere\u2019s no action that patients need to take right now.\u201d <\/p>\n

The University of Kansas Health System will take over full ownership of the St. Francis Campus. Ardent Health believes the step is a positive one and will help the campus move forward in its endeavors. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very important milestone for St. Francis and the communities that we serve, and it reflects the strength of the system and what we have built together,\u201d said Scott Campbell, CEO of the University of Kansas Health System. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of what this partnership has made possible for St. Francis and the Topeka community,\u201d said Dave Caspers, president and CEO of Ardent Health. \u201cWe regularly evaluate our portfolio to ensure we\u2019re focusing our resources where our operating model, scale, and capabilities can have the greatest impact and create long-term value. This transition reflects that approach, while positioning St. Francis to become more fully integrated with Kansas\u2019s largest academic health system. We look forward to supporting a thoughtful transition and to seeing St. Francis continue to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The closing agreement on the decision will be signed by the end of the year. The two health systems will continue working together throughout the rest of the year to ensure the continuation of existing projects. <\/p>\n

Both organizations are expecting to complete the transition by the end of 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan is to welcome the employees to the University of Kansas Health System in January, with a formal transition,\u201d Peterman said. <\/p>\n

Stormont Vail Health said it looks forward to what the transition brings and the shared common goal of treating all patients close to home. <\/p>\n

The full statement from SVH can be read below: <\/p>\n

Stormont Vail Health recognizes the important role The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health have played in preserving healthcare access in Topeka since their partnership acquired St. Francis Hospital in Topeka in 2017. Their investment helped ensure the continued availability of healthcare services for our community and region. <\/p>\n

As details regarding the announced transition become available, we look forward to learning more about what it may mean for patients, providers, and our community. We share a common goal with healthcare organizations throughout Kansas: ensuring patients have access to high-quality care close to home whenever possible.<\/p>\n

Stormont Vail Health remains committed to serving our community through continued investments in patient care, workforce development, rural health access, innovation, and partnerships that strengthen the health of the region.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Ardent Health announced that it will be stepping down from its role overseeing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[365201,11840,97,252,253,20598,46004,365200],"class_list":["post-865717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-ardent-health","tag-campus","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-st-francis","tag-topeka","tag-university-of-kansas-health-system-st-francis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}