Atrium Health completes major deal to double in size, combines with Midwest hospital chain
Atrium Health completed a major deal Friday with Advocate Aurora Health to combine healthcare systems, making it one of the largest systems in the U.S.
The combined healthcare system called Advocate Health, which will be headquartered in Charlotte, will serve nearly 6 million patients annually and is the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the nation, according to a news release.
With revenues of more than $27 billion, the newly combined Advocate Health has more than 1,000 sites of care and 67 hospitals with more than 21,000 physicians and nearly 42,000 nurses in Charlotte and Chicago and Milwaukee, according to the news release.
Hospital officials say the merger will mean bringing medical innovations to patients more quickly, address health inequities, enable career advancement and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
“We are poised to push past traditional geographic and care delivery boundaries to create a healthier tomorrow for all,” said Gene Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health, and Atrium’s leader before the combination.
Jim Skogsbergh, Advocate Aurora Health’s CEO, will serve alongside Woods as chief executive officer until his retirement in 18 months.
The deal was announced in May.
Combining hospital systems
The hospital system will maintain its brands: The Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care brands in Wisconsin and Chicago, and Atrium Health in the Carolinas. Wake Forest University School of Medicine will serve as the academic core.
Advocate Health will have about 150,000 employees, including physicians, nurses, researchers and faculty, Woods said.
Advocate Health’s board of directors is made up of an equal number of Advocate Aurora and Atrium Health members.
Thomas Nelson, chair of Atrium Health’s board of directors, will chair the new board until Dec. 31, 2023. Michele Richardson, chair of Advocate Aurora’s board of directors, will assume leadership for the immediately succeeding two-year term.
Critics of hospital consolidation
Just three months ago, the healthcare deal hit a regulatory hiccup when the Health Facilities and Services Review Board in Illinois rejected the application citing lack of information, the Observer reported. But the board reconsidered and agreed to vote at its Dec. 13 meeting.
Last month, however, the board unanimously approved the part of the deal it had oversight of during a meeting in Bolingbrook, Illinois, the Observer reported.
Other regulatory groups also wanted more information about the merger.
And some critics of the deal, like Service Employees International Union Healthcare, were concerned about the new system’s massive size and reach. The union, representing more than 90,000 healthcare and human service workers, said the consolidation would lead to increased prices and the same or worse care for patients.
In a statement, N.C. state Treasurer Dale Folwell cited price concerns as well.
When asked about such criticisms, Atrium Health spokesman Chris Berger told The Charlotte Observer that the consolidation creates a health and wellness system without geographic boundaries.
“Our combined organization will offer many benefits to our patients, as our shared expertise and combined capabilities will strengthen our ability to invest in and improve the overall health and well-being of our communities,” Berger said in a statement.
This story was originally published December 2, 2022 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Atrium Health completes major deal to double in size, combines with Midwest hospital chain."