Ascension Sells Off Last Michigan Hospitals

Compass Group USA, Inc. just filed WARN Act notices announcing 244 permanent layoffs of their support personnel working at:

Ascension Borgess Allegan Hospital; Allegan
Ascension Borgess-Pipp Hospital; Plainwell
Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital; Dowagiac
Ascension Borgess Hospital; Kalamazoo
Ascension Borgess Health & Fitness Center; Kalamazoo

https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/wd/data-public-notices/warn-notices

The layoffs take effect on July 1, 2025.  No word on whom Beacon Health has hired to replace Compass and its workers.

The sale of Southwest Michigan’s Ascension Borgess hospitals to Beacon Health System closed today, July 1st:

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2025/07/ascension-borgess-hospitals-officially-sold-now-part-of-beacon-health-system.html

Ascension Borgess hospitals officially sold, now part of Beacon Health System
By Aya Miller | July 1, 2025

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Beacon Health System has officially acquired Southwest Michigan’s Ascension Borgess hospitals, Tuesday, July 1.

Beacon, an Indiana-based nonprofit, announced the plan to purchase in April. The acquisition includes four hospitals, 35 outpatient clinics and an ambulatory surgery center.

The acquired hospitals include:

Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo
Ascension Borgess Allegan Hospital
Ascension Borgess-Lee Hospital in Dowagiac
Ascension Borgess-Pipp Hospital in Plainwell

“As a locally governed nonprofit organization, we remain committed to a community focus, driven by our mission to deliver outstanding care, inspire health and connect with heart,” said Kreg Gruber, Beacon’s chief executive officer.

Ascension approached Beacon last fall about an acquisition after Ascension facilities in the Detroit metro-area partnered with Henry Ford Health.

Beacon patients will have access to more specialists, enhanced resources and coordinated care through Beacon’s expanded system, the release said.

With the acquisition of Ascension’s Southwest Michigan facilities complete, 2,700 associates, including 259 providers, will transition from Ascension into the Beacon system.

Nurses with what’s now being called Beacon Kalamazoo (formerly Ascension Borgess Kalamazoo), previously expressed concerns they were unsure of whether their employment would transfer to Beacon. The Kalamazoo hospital is the largest of the four in the purchase.

Nurses weren’t given specific information about whether they meet requirements for their employment to transfer, said Lori Batzloff, a nurse at the Kalamazoo hospital and president of the local Michigan Nurses Association chapter.

Beacon Health was established in 2011 after a merger between Memorial Hospital of South Bend and Elkhart General Hospital. Since then, the nonprofit has grown “organically and opportunistically,” Gruber said.

Beacon has previously acquired facilities in Bremen, Indiana, and Three Rivers Health in Michigan.

Compass Group USA is laying off 262 employees across five Beacon Health System hospitals and facilities this summer.  This appears to be the Beacon Hospital support personnel layoffs originally scheduled for July of last year.  Beacon Health is bringing those services in house, a refreshing change from the corporate compartmentalization which has prevailed in the health care industry during this century:

https://www.woodtv.com/news/kalamazoo-county/beacon-health-contractor-laying-off-262-employees/

https://www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/wd/data-public-notices/warn-notices

Beacon Health contractor laying off 262 employees
By Madalyn Buursma - March 30, 2026

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — A Beacon Health contractor is laying off more than 250 West Michigan employees as the contract between the two organizations comes to an end.

Food service company Compass Group USA is laying off 262 employees across five Beacon Health System hospitals and facilities this summer, according to a notification filed with the state. The affected employees work at Beacon Allegan Hospital, Beacon Hospital and Beacon Health & Fitness Center in Kalamazoo, Beacon Lee Hospital in Dowagiac and Beacon Pipp Hospital in Plainwell.

$3.5M upgrade aims to make Beacon Kalamazoo emergency room faster
The group’s contracts are set to end on July 1, a support services spokesperson with Compass Group USA division TouchPoint said in a statement to News 8.

“We have been honored to serve patients, clinical caregivers, and guests at these Beacon Health hospitals and we will be working closely with the hospitals to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible,” the spokesperson said. “It is our understanding that there will be employment opportunities posted by Beacon Health for impacted associates to explore.”

Beacon Health System acquired the facilities from Ascension last year. At the time, Compass Group filed a WARN letter saying it would be laying off the employees, but Beacon and Compass ultimately created a new agreement to continue services.

Now, Beacon is bringing those services in house, a spokesperson for the health system said in a statement to News 8.

“As a locally owned, locally led health system, integrating these services allows us to better align with our mission, improve efficiency and reinvest resources where they matter most,” the spokesperson said. “Beacon will offer employment opportunities in these service areas and encourages current TouchPoint employees to apply through Beacon’s standard hiring process. We are committed to our associates, our patients, and the communities we serve in southwest Michigan and across Beacon Health System.”

Now that Beacon Health System of South Bend, Indiana owns the former Ascension hospitals in Michigan, they will offer abortions. Beacon is a secular non profit, where Ascension was sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church:

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2026/07/no-longer-catholic-kalamazoo-hospital-adds-reproductive-health-services-under-new-ownership.html

No longer Catholic, Kalamazoo hospital adds reproductive health services under new ownership
By Ryan Boldrey | July 2, 2026,

KALAMAZOO, MI — It’s been one year since Beacon Health acquired four Southwest Michigan hospitals, 35 outpatient clinics and an ambulatory surgery center from Ascension.

In those 12 months, the Indiana-based nonprofit health provider has introduced reproductive health care to the former Catholic health network, brought multiple third-party contract services in house and hired dozens of new physicians, clinicians, nurses and staff.

The provider has also transitioned the previous medical records system to Beacon’s, implemented local governance at each of its new hospitals and invested millions of dollars into new technology and infrastructure.

“We’re not where we need to be yet, but we’ve certainly made some strides in the right direction,” said Carl Risk, Beacon Kalamazoo president. “We were really blessed to come in with a really strong foundation on the people side and have the stability that was there.”

Through the acquisition, Beacon welcomed more than 2,700 associates and 250 physicians and advanced clinicians that had been with Ascension, Risk said.

The network has also hired 68 new physicians and advanced practice clinicians as it increases its level of care at hospitals in Kalamazoo, Allegan, Dowagiac and Plainwell.

Introducing reproductive health

A major change at Beacon Health has been the addition of reproductive health services that were not offered previously by Ascension Borgess prior to the transition.

Ascension, which no longer has any hospitals in Michigan, is a private Catholic health system.

Providers within Catholic hospitals are expected to follow the Ethical and Religious Directives, according to the University of Chicago. Such directives prohibit or limit contraception, sterilization, abortion, most fertility treatments and other reproductive services.

To see the latest directives from the Catholic Health Association of the United States, click here.

Starting July 1, 2025 — the day Beacon acquired the four Kalamazoo-area hospitals — Beacon began offering tubal ligations and a wider variety of intrauterine devices and birth control products, per a Beacon spokesperson.

A group of urologists will also soon be joining Beacon Kalamazoo and perform vasectomies.

“Beacon Health System welcomes and supports all individuals who follow our region’s wide breadth of belief systems, spiritual and faith traditions,” said Dr. Mark Noffsinger, Beacon Kalamazoo chief medical officer.

“These changes help ensure timely and appropriate care for our patients while supporting providers in delivering the care they feel is most appropriate,” he said.

The additional services not only better match today’s medical standards, but make it easier for patients to receive care that aligns with their personal health goals, Noffsinger said.

Abortions are not offered by the provider, which is on par for most hospital networks, but patients can access information through community resources available throughout the Kalamazoo area, Beacon’s spokesperson confirmed.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, only 4% of abortions in the U.S. are performed in hospitals, with 95% occurring in specialty clinics and less than 1% in physician’s offices.

Recruiting new physicians and providers

In its first year in Southwest Michigan, Beacon Health has recruited 31 new physicians and 37 advanced practice clinicians, which includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse-midwives, Noffsinger said.

More than 80 nurses have also been hired.

In addition, the health provider has hired additional staff in other areas, including dietary, environmental services, security, IT support and billing, Noffsinger said.

“We’ve had some really good success recruiting physicians and advanced practice clinicians,” Risk said. “To recruit 68 new providers in one year, I’m really proud of that. That’s a huge accomplishment that will help us provide more access to the community.”

Some of those physicians, Risk said, had previously worked for Ascension, but left.

“We’ve certainly seen patients returning, and we’ve also seen physicians who had left who have already signed and are returning,” he said. “We’ve got others that are interested in talking to us about potentially coming back as well, so we’re excited about that.

“They’re hearing from their peers and others that things are different, and we are taking a different approach to the market and to how we’re doing things.”

Kalamazoo has two hospitals in town: Beacon Kalamazoo and Bronson Methodist Hospital. Risk believes the stronger both are, the better it is for the community.

“Kalamazoo is big enough to have two strong hospitals here in the community,” he said. “That’s what we need.”

Investments in technology, ER

Investments in the first year have gone beyond recruitment.

In February, Beacon completed a $3.5 million renovation of its emergency department.

The hospital also upgraded equipment and technology in one of its catheterization labs, and is scheduled to open a new, additional neurological interventional radiology room in mid-July and a new interventional radiology room this fall, Noffsinger said.

Thanks to the generosity of local donors, Beacon Kalamazoo also purchased a next-generation da Vinci 5 robotic surgical system, making the hospital the first in the region with that advanced technology, Noffsinger said.

Local donors also helped the hospital purchase a robotic-assisted bronchoscopy platform, which is used to perform minimally invasive lung biopsies, helping with earlier diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, he said.

Both items were purchased using legacy Borgess Foundation funds, comprised of prior charitable contributions made by donors within the Kalamazoo community.

The hospital is far from done investing in technology, as well as infrastructure.

A master site and facility plan is in the developmental stages that will help officials identify ways to repurpose unused or under-utilized areas, Risk said.

Local governance and in-house services

Among the biggest changes in the switch from Ascension to Beacon is the implementation of local governance.

“That to me, at the end of the day, is really the biggest difference,” said Risk, who prior to joining Beacon served as an administrator for an Ascension hospital in Indiana.

“Each Beacon hospital has its own local board,” he said. “We take that very seriously, to be locally-governed. That’s important to us, and we feel that model is what works.”

Working to make things more efficient and drive down costs, all four Beacon hospitals have been moving many third-party contractor services in house.

Patient billing and lab services were already brought in house and on Wednesday, July 1, Beacon began transitioning its food, nutrition and patient transport services in house.

“Over the long haul, that’s what’s going to stabilize our operations,” Risk said.

The past year has been a busy one, Risk said, but he feels the community reception to Beacon has been a positive one.

“We knew coming in that there was already a high standard, high quality of care here, based on the information seen in our review process, and certainly we have found that to hold true,” he said. “They just needed somebody to help be supportive of the team here and help it grow.

“At the end of the day, we’re just really excited with our decision to be here, and we continue to see a very bright future as we go forward.”