Advocate Aurora Health and Beaumont Health have called off plans to merge, about five months after signing a letter of intent to combine.
Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont and Advocate Aurora, which has dual headquarters in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee, began partnership discussions in late 2019 but paused talks to allow both organizations to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 17, the health systems announced they had signed a nonbinding letter of intent to create a health system, spanning Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.
The merger plan faced criticism from some Beaumont physicians, nurses and donors. In August, the Beaumont board of trustees confirmed it would delay a vote on the planned merger. The trustees decided to postpone the vote after seeing the results of a survey, completed by 1,500 of the system's 5,000 physicians, that revealed a lack of confidence in Beaumont's leadership and concerns about its proposed merger with Advocate Aurora.
In announcing the deal was canceled, Beaumont said it wants to focus on "local market priorities."
"We continue to have a very high regard for Advocate Aurora Health," John Fox, president and CEO of Beaumont, said in a news release. "But, at this time, we want to focus on our local market priorities and the physicians, nurses and staff who provide compassionate, extraordinary care every day."