Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and Cadence Health have ratified final terms of their merger, creating a Chicago-area health system with nearly $3 billion in annual revenue.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved the merger application in July after the two groups publicly entered discussions in March.
The combined organization, which will retain the Northwestern Memorial HealthCare name, begins operating on Sept. 1.
The new integrated delivery system will include four acute-care hospitals, giving Northwestern a bigger presence in the well-insured Chicago suburbs that are dominated by other systems. Advocate Health Care, headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., is the largest system in the area with 11 hospitals.
Northwestern is primarily known for its 885-bed academic medical center in Chicago. It will now control 344-bed Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Ill., and 159-bed Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Ill. Northwestern already owns a hospital in Lake Forest, Ill., which is being rebuilt and will include 114 beds. Cadence's hospitals will not be renamed for the time being.
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