New health system focused on improving safety and outcomes, advancing health equity and accelerating medical breakthroughs
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After sharing plans to come together in May, Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health today announced they have closed on their formal combination to create Advocate Health. The combined organization will focus on best meeting patients’ needs by redefining how, when and where care is delivered.
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 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. 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.
The board of directors comprises an equal number of members from Advocate Aurora and Atrium Health. Thomas C. Nelson, chair of Atrium Health’s board of directors, will chair the new organization’s board until Dec. 31, 2023. Michele Richardson, chair of Advocate Aurora’s board of directors, will assume leadership for the immediately succeeding two-year term.
Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients annually and 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 benefit.
Media Contacts
Adam Mesirow: Advocate Aurora Health | adam.mesirow@aah.org
Chris Berger: Atrium Health | chris.berger@atriumhealth.org
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the fifth-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs nearly 150,000 team members across 67 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $5 billion in annual community benefit.