Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare plans to acquire nine Illinois hospitals and various post-acute facilities from St. Louis-based Ascension for a base purchase price of $375.8 million, a spokesperson for the health system confirmed to Becker's.
"As part of this transaction, Prime has committed to maintaining high levels of charity care, community benefit programs and preserving these facilities' roles as essential community partners," the health system said in a statement. "Prime will invest $250 million to fund capital improvements, including technology upgrades and system enhancements, to ensure continued access to quality care for Illinois communities."
Part of Prime's integration plan includes converting all nine hospitals to its iteration of the Epic EHR system. The hospitals include:
- Ascension Holy Family (Des Plaines)
- Ascension Mercy (Aurora)
- Ascension Resurrection (Chicago)
- Ascension Saint Elizabeth (Chicago)
- Ascension Saint Francis (Evanston)
- Ascension Saint Joseph – Elgin
- Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet
- Ascension Saint Mary – Chicago
- Ascension Saint Mary – Kankakee
The transaction is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2025 and would increase the number of hospitals in Prime's portfolio to 53. It would also expand the physician-led health system's presence into the third-largest metropolitan market in the country.
"While Illinois would be a new market for us, there were a lot of similarities and parallels with other communities we've entered in Los Angeles and the Northeast, and we understand the vulnerable patient populations some of these hospitals serve in the Greater Chicago area," Prime President and Chief Medical Officer Sunny Bhatia, MD, told Becker's. "We are committed and uniquely able to improve, invest and ensure the continued legacy of service of these hospitals, having saved and transformed over 40 hospitals across the country."