Evanston, Ill.-based NorthShore University HealthSystem and Naperville, Ill.-based Edward-Elmhurst Health plan to merge under a new parent organization, the systems said Sept. 8.
The proposed merger would establish a nine-hospital system with 25,000 employees and more than 300 ambulatory facilities.
NorthShore and Edward-Elmhurst Health said they expect the transaction to close later this year, pending regulatory approvals.
The new parent organization will be led by NorthShore President and CEO J.P. Gallagher and governed by a single board. Mary Lou Mastro, president and CEO of Edward-Elmhurst Health, will join the executive team of the new organization.
As part of the deal, both Illinois hospital systems will create two community investment funds and donate $100 million each to their respective communities.
In the past few years, NorthShore has grown to a six-hospital system with the acquisition of Northwest Community Healthcare, a single-hospital system based in Arlington Heights, Ill., and the 312-bed Swedish Hospital in Chicago. NorthShore's proposed merger with Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care fell through in March 2017.