Chicago-based Rush University System for Health and Evanston, Ill.-based Endeavor Health announced plans to merge Oct. 14. The transaction is expected to close in early 2027.
Endeavor plans to fund a $1 billion investment as part of the deal, including $300 million to broaden community impact, $500 million for academics and research, and $200 million for quality care and innovation, according to a joint press release. The investment will also fund community partnerships focused supporting social determinants of health and underserved members of the community.
“Together, Rush and Endeavor Health have an opportunity to create a stronger, more connected health system that sets a new standard for how care is delivered and experienced across our communities,” said Gerald “J.P.” Gallagher, president and CEO of Endeavor. “Patients and communities will benefit from improved access, advanced research and nationally recognized, high-quality care close to home.”
When the deal is finalized, the system will operate under the Rush brand based on the brand’s “strong national reputation and position as a leading academic institution,” according to the press release, with a commitment to academics, care quality and innovation.
“The system will embody and expand the foundational values for which both systems are known: excellence, access and health equity, backed by a leading university that drives research and trains our future healthcare leaders,” said Omar Lateef, MD, president and CEO of Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center. “As a unified system, we will expand upon the work Rush has done on the West Side of Chicago to strengthen our impact in communities across the region to ensure more patients benefit from the expertise, innovation and compassion that define us.”
Mr. Gallagher will be president and CEO of the unified system, and Dr. Lateef will continue as president and CEO of Rush through the close of the transaction before transitioning to CEO emeritus and strategic advisor to the CEO. The combined system will appoint a 20-person board with 10 members each from Rush and Endeavor, led by a Rush representative as chair.
The combined system will have 12 hospitals, 400-plus care sites and 46,000 employees and clinicians. It will serve 2 million patients in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.
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