Delnor, CDH boards approve merger

Delnor and Central DuPage hospitals and health systems are now one with the boards of directors approving a merger.

The firms’ respective boards voted last week, it was announced Thursday, after state regulators OK’d the merger March 21.

The two entities announced their intention to merge last fall.

Both hospitals will retain their names for now, no layoffs are planned, and neither will drop any services, according to the application filed with the state.

“Today, we have created a new health system with greater scale to provide patients with even higher-quality care, access to a greater number of specialists, a broader range of clinical capabilities and a more integrated approach to health care,” C. William Pollard, chairman of the CDH board of directors, said in a prepared statement.

“We are excited to bring together these two exceptional, financially sound hospitals with shared vision, values and complementary strengths,” added William A. Wolford, chairman of Delnor Health System’s board of directors.

Luke McGuinness, CDH’s president and chief executive officer, is the CEO of the new system, reporting to a 20-person board of directors (10 from each hospital). Delnor CEO Thomas L. Wright will continue as president of Delnor Hospital, and be executive vice president of the health system.

Officials are working on a new name for the health system.

“Delnor” was derived from Dellora and Lester Norris, benefactors who helped establish Delnor Hospital in 1940 in St. Charles. Dellora Norris was a board member for more than 40 years. The hospital merged in the late 1980s with Community Hospital of Geneva, became Delnor-Community, and opened a new hospital on Randall Road in Geneva in 1991. In recent years it dropped “Community” from most of its references.