'My position is, when it comes to the risk side, you've got to partner'.

Anthony Tersigni, the CEO of Ascension, oversees a sprawling empire of 141 Catholic hospitals in 24 states and the District of Columbia with 150,000 employees over 2,500 care sites. At a time of potentially far-reaching political changes, the $21 billion organization is going through its own transition, having recently tapped Chief Operating Officer Patricia Maryland to succeed Robert Henkel as CEO of Ascension Health, the holding company's largest operating division. During January's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Modern Healthcare finance reporter Dave Barkholz spoke with Tersigni about the drama in Washington over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, what the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare group has planned regarding mergers and acquisitions and the transition underway at Ascension. The following is an edited transcript.