Advocate Health Care to merge with Wisconsin-based Aurora Health Care

DOWNERS GROVE – Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care on Dec. 5 announced a merger to create Advocate Aurora Health, the 10th largest not-for-profit, integrated health care system in the United States, according to a news release from the systems.

The two organizations cited enhanced scale, expanded access, greater efficiencies and a shared commitment to transform the care delivery model as key drivers for the merger.

“This merger is about transforming care delivery and reimagining the possibilities of health as bigger meets better and size meets value to benefit consumers,” Advocate Health Care President and CEO Jim Skogsbergh said in the release. “By joining forces we will be able to expand our network to scale innovation and create a destination in the Midwest for patients and the talented clinicians who care for them.”

Both the Advocate and Aurora boards of directors approved the plan. The merger would build on the 20-year relationship the two health systems have had through the joint ownership and operation of ACL Laboratories, the release stated.

The agreement is subject to state and federal regulatory review and approval, including the Federal Trade Commission and agencies within Illinois and Wisconsin, according to the release. Closing is expected by mid-2018.

The new organization would operate 27 hospitals and more than 500 sites of care and employ more than 3,300 physicians and nearly 70,000 associates and caregivers, the release stated. With combined annual revenues of about $11 billion, Advocate Aurora Health would offer resources and the financial flexibility to expand investment and scale innovation, according to the release.

The agreement includes a plan for a single board of directors comprising an equal number of members from Advocate and Aurora, with Skogsbergh and Turkal serving as co-CEOs. The Advocate and Aurora names would continue to be used, and each system would maintain its current headquarters, the release stated.

Advocate Health Care is the largest health system in Illinois. It operates 12 hospitals, including Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit Wisconsin-area health care provider, offering services at sites in more than 30 counties throughout eastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.