Officials at Cadence Health and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare (NMHC) are in talks to form “an integrated academic healthcare delivery system,” according to an announcement made yesterday. No details are available yet as to when the specific discussions will begin.
It is anticipated that, upon merger, the new health system will operate as Northwestern Medicine with equal administrative representation from Cadence and NMHC.
“A merger of our health systems would combine Cadence Health’s strong portfolio of primary and specialty care with our strength as one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers, to create a preeminent integrated academic health system that benefits all residents, regardless of their ability to pay, by giving them increased access to physicians, clinical trials and Northwestern University research programs as well as integrated primary, secondary and advanced tertiary services,” said Dean M. Harrison, NMHC president and CEO, who would continue to lead the combined health system.
Large healthcare networks, like this one being proposed, are becoming more common in today’s marketplace, leaving independent doctors and healthcare companies in the minority.
Mike Vivoda, president and CEO at Cadence Health, will become the regional president for NMHC. “We believe this merger will create a multiregional health system focused on the singular vision of providing high-quality care with an unwavering patient focus,” he said.
