Faculty foundation doctors vote to join Northwestern Memorial

Members of Northwestern University medical school's physician group on Monday voted in favor of a merger with Northwestern Memorial HealthCare.

Dr. Eric Neilson, dean of the Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, and Dean Harrison, the hospital's CEO made the announcement this morning in an email to staff. A copy of the email was obtained by Crain's.

The merger aims to bring the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, the Chicago area's second-largest physician group, and Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, a smaller group of doctors affiliated with the health system's two hospitals, under one organization.

“Uniting our clinical enterprise under one brand, Northwestern Medicine, creates many new opportunities to bring breakthrough science and Northwestern care to our patients,” the two executives said in the message.

The letter of intent was signed in March and the merger is expected to be completed by Sept. 1.

The faculty foundation has about 900 doctors and raked in $471 million in net revenue in 2012, according to a Crain's list published April 22. It's revenue ranked behind only Advocate Medical Group in the Chicago area.

The Northwestern Memorial doctor group has 122 physicians and posted revenue of $68.7 million last year, ranking it 13th on the Crain's listing.

Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, which includes 894-bed Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, and 201-bed Northwestern Lake Forest (Ill.) Hospital, posted $1.70 billion in revenue in the year ended Aug. 31.

"Faculty foundation doctors vote to join Northwestern Memorial" originally appeared in Crain's Chicago Business.