Chicagoland mega healthcare system merger finalized

It’s official, on September 1, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, one of Chicago’s leading academic medical center-focused healthcare systems and Cadence Health, operator of two community hospitals and numerous outpatient centers west of the city, become one.

The combined integrated health system will adopt the brand name “Northwestern Medicine” and will include four hospitals, approximately 1,600 beds, 19,500 employees and a combined medical staff with 4,000 physicians, a joint press release announced.

The merger appears to have strong advantages for both partners, allowing Northwestern Memorial to quickly gain a larger footprint in outpatient care at a time when inpatient volumes nationally are stagnant or shrinking as care migrates to the outpatient setting under healthcare reform. Meanwhile, Cadence gains the contracting power of being a brand-name must-have provider in insurance networks and the numerous resources of being part of a network with a major academic medical center, including access to clinical trials and specialized acute care for its patients.

“We are honored to welcome Cadence Health into the Northwestern Medicine family,” said Dean M. Harrison, Northwestern Memorial president and CEO, in the press release. “Cadence is an ideal health system to combine with as their vision, mission and values are very similar to ours. Together, we will continue to deliver the Northwestern Medicine brand promise, which is to provide trusted, quality care that is accessible where patients live and work, safe and accountable, and centered on world-class medicine.”

The press release did not mention potential synergies from the merger, such as creating shared support service departments for functions like information technology, marketing, human resources or payroll and accounting.

According to the statement, Harrison will remain president and CEO of the new merged healthcare system. Meanwhile, Mike Vivoda, Cadence Health’s president and CEO will become regional president for the Western Region of Northwestern Medicine Healthcare. Cadence CFO and executive vice president John Orsini will be Northwestern Medicine Healthcare’s CFO and Senior Vice President.