The Advocate Health Care, Atrium Health and Aurora Health Care brands will continue to be used in their respective local communities, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the combined entity.
In addition to delivering the best health outcomes and making care more accessible and affordable, Advocate Health is committed to being a force for meaningful social impact. The organization aims to bring medical innovations to patients more quickly, address the root causes of health inequities, advance population health, enable career advancement and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
“Powered by 150,000 teammates – including the best and brightest physicians, nurses, researchers and faculty – we are poised to push past traditional geographic and care delivery boundaries to create a healthier tomorrow for all,” said Eugene A. Woods, chief executive officer of Advocate Health.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to bring our organizations together to do more, be better and go faster to help more people live well while training the next generation of health care professionals,” said Jim Skogsbergh, who will serve alongside Woods as chief executive officer until his retirement in 12-18 months.
Advocate Health is headquartered in Charlotte, while maintaining a strong presence in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, including a planned, new, Milwaukee-based institute for health equity.
“With Advocate Health, we will be part of a dynamic enterprise that brings together shared talents and strengths to serve nearly six million patients across six states,” said Julie Ann Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, MAMSE.
“Our combined organizations have a dedicated focus to making health care equitable across all our communities – and our opportunities for learning and partnership are tremendous.
I am especially excited that Wake Forest University School of Medicine will serve as the academic core of the new enterprise and will drive medical education, research and innovation across all of Advocate Health. This expanded footprint will unlock more opportunities in the many ways that we make discoveries and train our next generation of health care leaders.”
Advocate Health is the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the nation. With revenues of more than $27 billion, the newly combined organization comprises more than 1,000 sites of care and 67 hospitals with more than 21,000 physicians and nearly 42,000 nurses. The health system delivers nearly $5 billion in annual community benefits.