Merger will help hospital grow and remain community-focused
Last month, Northwest Community Healthcare announced our intention to merge with NorthShore University Health System.
For many years, NCH has been sought as a partner by some of the area's large and respected health care systems, but our leadership and board of directors rebuffed these offers because of our desire to remain a locally focused, community-based system. The opportunities presented to us did not provide for a community-driven alternative that matched the independent model that we had followed for so long.
Eighteen months ago, we began a strategic assessment to understand how market changes may impact our ability to continue to serve our community as we always have. Our commitment remained centered on our ability to grow our health care network while maintaining our community focus to provide top-quality and personalized care for our patients.
This assessment led us to conclude that finding an established system, whose mission and culture mirror our own, will allow us to strengthen our core programs, improve access to primary care and expand specialized care to be a true regional health care leader for our patients and community.
Only one potential organization distinguished itself, allowing us to create a stronger future while still being reflective of our historical commitment to our community.
That partner was NorthShore.
NorthShore shares our model of exceptional and community-focused health care, tailored to patients, through an integrated network of hospitals, physicians and outpatient care facilities. We share the belief that investing in the health of our community through all stages of our patients' lives and health - wellness, prevention and treatment - is the best way to deliver care and to create the best health outcomes for patients.
Merging with NorthShore will expand our physician network and improve our patients' access to specialty services. It will give us stronger buying power that can help put the entire system in a stronger position for the future. And it will allow us to advance what already works extraordinarily well at NCH.
We will maintain a local board, and decisions about the care and treatment of our patients in our communities will remain local. We will maintain our NCH brand, our flagship hospital in Arlington Heights and our network of outpatient clinics and physician offices throughout the northwest suburbs.
The inpatient services we offer today will continue to be offered locally at NCH. And it will allow for continued growth and expansion of key wellness and treatment initiatives, including investment in our Wellness Center, our newly opened High Risk Breast Clinic and our plans to expand our cancer services, to name just a few.
Our commitment to our NCH teams, current operations, physician partnerships and mission will go unchanged.
Our focus on providing compassionate care in a healing environment close to home, with cutting-edge clinical expertise and state-of-the-art facilities, remains fundamental.
On behalf of the NCH Board and leadership team, I invite our community to join in our excitement about the future of our hospital and health system. I thank you for putting your trust in us for more than 60 years and pledge to continue delivering the best care possible for our patients and communities.
I make this pledge knowing that the 4,500 team members at NCH each play a role in delivering it to you. I applaud the commitment and level of care that Team NCH has delivered to you always, and now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have never been prouder of this team and I know that, together, we will continue to give our community our best, personalized and excellent care as we move forward with NorthShore.
• Steve Scogna is president and CEO, Northwest Community Healthcare.