The long-disputed sale of Exempla Lutheran and Good Samaritan hospitals to Kansas-based Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System has been settled, the parties announced today.

The sale makes Sisters of Charity the sole owner of the hospitals and means the hospitals will follow Catholic medical directives — no abortions, tubal ligations, vasectomies or a range of other reproductive-health services now available at the nonsectarian Lutheran and Good Samaritan hospitals.

The sale frees capital for Exempla to invest in improvements and expansions at the hospitals.

“Our priority has been and remains to strengthen Exempla’s ability to serve the Denver metropolitan community, and we welcome the opportunity to play a significant role in nurturing this vital local resource,” Kenneth Eggeman, president and chief executive of Community First Foundation, said in a press release.

When the transfer is final, the Exempla system will be governed by a new board of directors, with Community First Foundation and Sisters of Charity each appointing an equal number of directors.

Exempla Inc. runs Lutheran in Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan in Lafayette, as well as the Sisters of Charity hospital, St. Joseph in Denver.

Last year, Sisters of Charity, a co-sponsor of the three-hospital Exempla Healthcare System, offered $311 million for sole control to its co-sponsor, the Arvada-based nonprofit Community First Foundation.

The foundation was once the fundraising arm of Lutheran Medical Center but became co-sponsor of the Exempla system in 1997 when all agreed to consolidate the hospitals’ management to save money.

There is no money attached to the sale, but Sisters of Charity plans to infuse money into Exempla Healthcare after the new board prioritizes the system’s needs.

The Exempla board had opposed the transfer, saying Community First didn’t have the right to sell its stake.

Jennifer Brown: 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com