Atrium Health announced it is combining with Midwest-based health care system Advocate Aurora Health, a move that will create the fifth-largest health care system by revenue in the nation, and double its size.
The entities are creating a joint operating company to be headquartered in Charlotte and known as Advocate Health. It will continue to be called Atrium in the Charlotte Region.
The new organization will have a combined footprint across Illinois, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, including a new institute for health equity located in Milwaukee. It will serve 5.5 million patients, operate more than 1,000 sites of care and 67 hospitals, employ more than 7,600 physicians and nearly 150,000 teammates, and have combined annual revenues of more than $27 billion.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine will be the academic core of the combined entity.
Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health leaders said they wanted to create a leading health and wellness delivery system to best meet patients’ needs by redefining how, when and where care is delivered. The organizations cited their complementary strengths, diverse experiences and enhanced capabilities as key enablers to improve lives.
“The world of healthcare as we know it is changing at warp speed – and it is rapidly becoming more digital, personalized, scientific and complex,” Eugene A. Woods, president and chief executive officer of Atrium Health, said. “This strategic combination will enable us to deepen our commitments to health equity, create more jobs and opportunities for our teammates and communities, launch new, game-changing innovations and so much more. Together, we will manifest a new future that significantly elevates the care we provide to every hand we hold and every life we touch.”
“Together, we can do more, be better and go faster,” Jim Skogsbergh, president and chief executive officer of Advocate Aurora Health, said. “This combination harnesses our complementary strengths and expertise of our doctors, nurses and teammates to lead health care’s transformation for those we are so proud to serve.”
Leadership pointed to the organizations’ combined clinical excellence – including in medical research and population health – as well as advanced capabilities in data analytics and digital consumer infrastructure as key value accelerators, which will allow them to make a positive impact across six key areas: clinical pre-eminence and safety, health equity, affordability, next-generation workforce, learning and discovery, and environmental sustainability. Highlights include a $2 billion pledge to disrupt the root causes of health inequities across both rural and urban underserved communities, their commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and a pledge to create more than 20,000 new jobs across the communities they serve.
The Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health Boards of Directors unanimously approved the agreement, which is subject to regulatory review.
A board of directors comprising an equal number of members from Advocate Aurora and Atrium Health will govern the enterprise. Skogsbergh and Woods will serve as co-CEOs for the first 18 months, at which point Skogsbergh will retire and Woods will become the sole CEO.
