Advocate and NorthShore Health Systems Allowed to Merge

Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem will be allowed to merge after a U.S. district court judge ruled against a request to block the merger, which was filed by the Federal Trade Commission.

The parent company of both organizations will be known as Advocate NorthShore Health Partners (ANHP).

Advocate and NorthShore proposed the merger in September 2014, according to a statement from each organization. The FTC issued an administrative complaint in December 2015, saying the merged company would operate most of the hospitals in the North Shore area and would control more than half of the "general acute care inpatient hospital services." 

"The result would likely be significant harm to consumers – with rising healthcare costs and diminished incentives to upgrade services and improve quality," the FTC complaint states.

The federal court hearing took place in April, and Judge Jorge Alonso's ruling to allow the merger was announced June 14.

“Judge Alonso’s decision reaffirmed what we have wholeheartedly believed since day one — this merger is a big win for consumers and for health care in our country as the shift to value takes hold,” said Jim Skogsbergh, Advocate’s president and CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting to work together to deliver on our commitment of making health care more affordable while raising the standard of care.”

Advocate is often named among the top five large health systems in the U.S. for quality and efficiency, and it is ranked among the largest Accountable Care Organizations in the nation, according to Advocate Health Care.

“We believe that by bringing together our two very strong and complementary institutions we are creating a patient-centered ‘system of systems’ that will deliver exceptional care and unprecedented access for those who matter most – our patients,” said Mark Neaman, NorthShore’s president and CEO.

NorthShore was among the first organization in the country to launch a successful system-wide electronic medical record, according to NorthShore University HealthSystem.

ANHP will serve more than 3 million patients each year, creating the 11th largest not-for-profit health care system in the country, according to Advocate and NorthShore statements. Skogsbergh and Neaman will be ANHP's co-CEOs for a time, and the merged company's board of directors will have members from both Advocate and NorthShore.

Photo via shutterstock.