CHI Franciscan CEO Ketul Patel joined King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer’s February Good Eggs breakfast at Twin Lakes Golf Club in Federal Way.

The breakfast provided an opportunity for Patel to update South King County community leaders and elected officials on the important work CHI Franciscan is doing for its patients and in the community and discuss the future of the health care industry.

CHI Franciscan, founded in 1891, is one of the largest health systems in Washington with more than 12,000 employees and ten hospitals. Ketul discussed the importance of improving the operational efficiency of its hospitals in order to help control costs and lower costs for patients. A main driver for CHI Franciscan’s merger with CommonSpirit was projected cost savings of $2.4 billion over five years.

Moving forward, Ketul suggested that there will likely be more mergers in an attempt to realize cost savings. There are very few remaining independent hospitals. CHI Franciscan is also investing in the expansion of virtual care options that improve both the quality of and access to care. Lastly, Ketul discussed the important partnerships with MultiCare that are improving access to behavioral health in South King County.

Breakfast guests include, from left, Federal Way City Councilmember Lydia Assefa-Dawson; CHI Franciscan CEO Ketul Patel; King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer; and ST Fabrication CEO Jesse Cherian. COURTESY PHOTO