The University of Chicago Medicine has acquired a controlling interest in four western suburban hospitals, expanding the healthcare system’s presence in Illinois.
The University of Chicago Medicine now owns part of AdventHealth’s Great Lakes Region, which includes four hospitals in Bolingbrook, Glendale Heights, Hinsdale and La Grange and a network of nearly 50 physician offices and outpatient clinics.
These four hospitals and other western suburban locations will now include the UChicago Medicine AdventHealth title in their names. AdventHealth still owns a portion of the hospitals and will continue to run day-to-day operations.
The new arrangement became official on January 1 and was announced in September. Financial terms of the deal are not disclosed.
Leading hospital systems say the deal will give AdventHealth patients greater access to UChicago Medicine specialists and clinical trials closer to home, and provide UChicago Medicine patients living in the western suburbs with more care options in their own communities.
The four western suburban hospitals were previously part of Amita Health, a partnership between AdventHealth and Ascension before those two systems dissolved the partnership last year.
The acquisition is UChicago Medicine’s latest move to grow and expand further into the suburbs. The system, which includes the University of Chicago Medical Center, acquired Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey in 2016 and in August broke ground on a 130,000-square-foot medical facility in Crown Point, Indiana.
In February, UChicago Medicine announced plans to build a $633 million, 500,000-square-foot cancer hospital in Hyde Park to address health inequalities on the South Side and attract patients from across the region.
It is common for healthcare systems to grow by acquiring other hospitals in the area. Hospital leaders say the deals help them achieve economies of scale, reach more patients and adapt to changing technology. Hospitals often say they hope to improve care and affordability through mergers, although mergers and acquisitions often also increase hospitals’ bargaining power over insurers, allowing them to charge higher rates for services.
AdventHealth is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has more than 50 hospitals and hundreds of care facilities in nine states. Only the Great Lakes Region was involved in the deal with UChicago Medicine.