AdventHealth announces new affiliation

AdventHealth and the University of Chicago Medicine have signed a definitive agreement to enter into an affiliation that will increase access to a spectrum of services, treatment options and cutting-edge clinical trials for residents in Chicago's western suburbs.

Under the proposed affiliation, UChicago Medicine will acquire a controlling interest in AdventHealth's Great Lakes Region - which includes its four Illinois hospitals in Hinsdale, La Grange, Bolingbrook and Glendale Heights - with AdventHealth retaining the remaining ownership. UChicago Medicine and AdventHealth will each retain their current system-level governance and administrative structures.

"This partnership combines the best of both worlds - academic medical center expertise and high-quality community-based healthcare. It allows us to bring the highest level of academic care to our community. Now, residents can receive 'downtown care' in their backyard," said Adam Maycock, president and CEO of AdventHealth Hinsdale and La Grange. "Our intention is to strengthen our clinical programs while leveraging the best subspecialty care in the nation."

The transaction will enable consumers to seamlessly access primary, specialty and subspecialty medical care across both organizations.

"Joining UChicago Medicine will allow us to further our mission and enhance our ability to deliver high-quality, whole-person care to more people in the communities served in the greater Chicago area," said Terry Shaw, AdventHealth President/CEO.

AdventHealth will continue to manage the daily operations of our local business operations, Maycock said.

"This was important to us because of our mission and commitment to providing whole person care," he added.

The affiliation plans come on the heels of UChicago Medicine's February announcement to build a $633 million freestanding comprehensive cancer facility; the August groundbreaking of a 130,000-square-foot multispecialty ambulatory center in Crown Point, Ind.; and the summer launch of the South Side Healthy Community Organization, a collaboration between UCM and 12 other healthcare organizations dedicated to improving access to quality care and scoped to serve over 400,000 area residents.

"We have been focused on strengthening the ability of UChicago Medicine to deliver outstanding healthcare to the communities that we serve and expanding our points of access through new partnerships and locations across the region," said Dr. Kenneth Polonsky, dean and executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago. "Following regulatory approval for this affiliation we look forward to working with AdventHealth Great Lakes' leadership, physicians and staff."

Based on the campus of the University of Chicago, UChicago Medicine is an integrated academic health system that includes hospitals, outpatient clinics and physician practices throughout Chicagoland, the suburbs and Northwest Indiana. The health system offers a full range of specialty care services for adults and children through more than 40 institutes and centers, including an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

AdventHealth, headquartered in Florida, operates 51 hospital campuses in nine states with more than 80,000 team members, 2,400 employed physicians and almost 18,000 medical staff providers across the organization.

"Partnering with a premier, locally based academic medical institution will allow us to combine the best of community-based care with academic capabilities to expand subspecialty care and develop more high-quality, multidisciplinary services," said Thor Thordarson, president/CEO of AdventHealth Great Lakes Region.

"This affiliation will produce an expansive and diverse physician network, with over 3,500 providers, to deliver better-integrated, better-coordinated and more-comprehensive care for patients."

The proposed transaction requires regulatory approvals. The parties are working toward a formal closing date at the end of 2022 or in early 2023.