Provena, Resurrection Health Care to merge
New leadership and possibly a new headquarters are in store once Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care's proposed merger is completed, possibly as early as October, officials said Tuesday.
Hospital officials aim to create one of the largest Catholic health care systems in Illinois with a combined $3 billion in annual revenue. The merger pairs hospitals and other health care centers that mostly serve Aurora, Chicago, Danville, Des Plaines, Elgin, Joliet, Kankakee, Rockford and Urbana, as well as Avilla, Ind. The new system would include 12 hospitals, 28 long-term care and senior residential facilities, more than 50 primary and specialty care clinics and, six home health agencies.
“We're committed to it thriving,” said Brian Crawford, a spokesman for Chicago-based Resurrection.
Five orders of nuns from both systems have agreed to the merger and will determine the transitional issues and new leadership in coming months. Provena was created in 1997 under then Joseph Cardinal Bernardin when three Roman Catholic congregations were merged. Many of those hospitals were individually founded as early as 1882. Resurrection also has hospitals that were founded as early as 1868 and all of their facilities are run by two orders of nuns.
The proposed merger would combine workforces of about 22,000 employees and 5,000 affiliated doctors. Layoffs are not expected, and facilities are expected to continue operating as usual, spokesmen at the systems said.
However, a new CEO and a trimmer top administrative staff likely would lead the overall system. Currently, Sandra Bruce is president and CEO of Resurrection and Guy R. Wiebking is president and CEO of Provena.
Also, a new headquarters to house the combined organization is yet to be determined. Currently, Resurrection is based in Chicago and Provena is in far Southwest suburban Mokena.
The combined system is expected to offer acute care hospitals, outpatient services, behavioral health programs, home care, hospice care and long-term care facilities.
In addition, the system includes Resurrection University, a fully-accredited, not-for-profit, Catholic specialty school for health sciences. In 2010, the health systems invested about $112 million in facility and technological enhancements.
The two health care systems are members of the Illinois Hospital Association, but an association spokesman declined to comment.
The merger still must be approved by state authorities, which could come as early as October or by the end of the year, the spokesmen said.
“This is a merger of equals, not an acquisition,” said Provena spokeswoman Lisa Lagger.