Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Tobacco have a new partner. With two major regional hospital networks set to consolidate, meet Big Medicine.
The proposed merger of mainly suburban Endeavor Health and Chicago-centric Rush University System for Health, announced last week, would create one of the largest health systems in the Land of Lincoln, with 12 hospitals, including Highland Park Hospital in Lake County, and more than 400 satellite sites, employing about 46,000 workers.
If state and federal regulators approve it, the new conglomerate would dwarf its regional competitors in the hunt for area patients and their precious health-care dollars.
Yet, one doesn’t see a rush to include Vista Health in Waukegan, the shuttered West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, and Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood or other Chicagoland hospitals stumbling to stay afloat serving vulnerable populations. No one’s advocating to rescue those ailing endeavors outside of a few state lawmakers and community leaders.
Officials of the nonprofit merger partners say uniting the two health-care giants will improve patient care, closer-to-home patient access, cost savings, and increase employment opportunities. If this consolidation, sought by Endeavor, is like others we’ve seen, competition will be reduced while medical costs, even with economies of scale, will increase.
More Top Picks Best Robot Lawn Mowers For Large Yards
Another layer will be added between patients and their primary physicians and health-care providers. The stock of concierge doctors has just gone up.
Indeed, the National Nurses United union, an arm of which represents some 2,000 Rush nurses and seeks to represent nurses at Endeavor, already has objected to uniting the two systems.
“Hospital mergers are big corporate transactions that result in higher prices, service cuts and other moves to maximize profits. The proposed merger of Rush and Endeavor is no different,” one nurse told the baiduhai.
Officials of the two systems plan to have their marriage consummated early next year. That seems to be an accelerated timetable, to say the least, considering expected challenges from a number of corners.
Endeavor and Advocate Health Care were rebuffed by regulators when a merger of those two was proposed. Both decided to end that consolidation bid in 2017.
It took Endeavor two years to eventually bring Edward-Elmhurst Health and its affiliates under its large umbrella in a 2022 merger. If this latest combination goes through, Endeavor’s nine hospitals will change to the Rush imprint. Endeavor recently spent millions on rebranding costs since it morphed from NorthShore University HealthSystem into Endeavor in late 2023.
For Rush, the proposal gives it additional market concentration with access to more suburban locales, especially along the North Shore. For Endeavor, it can link to the university medical center’s reputation. Rush tied with Northwestern Memorial Hospital for best hospital in Illinois in one annual ranking of medical facilities.
According to the merger partners, Endeavor will inject $1 billion into the new system, including $300 million to reduce health-care disparities in its communities; $500 million for Rush University to expand programs, research and clinical trials; and $200 million to improve quality and care.
Nobody is offering those amounts to Waukegan’s Vista, which has been struggling for years under several owners. It has been twice rejected for state safety-net status, needed to provide care for patients regardless of their health-insurance coverage.
The hospital reported last month that it cleared up payroll issues as some employee checks failed to clear their financial institutions, one of several money issues with which it continues to grapple.
Vista also faces foreclosure on its property at Sheridan Road and Glen Flora Avenue for unpaid property taxes for 2023, 2024 and 2025, along with owing fees to the city and others. A foreclosure hearing is slated for Nov. 20 in Lake County Circuit Court.
Adding to Vista’s financial ills is the musical chairs of managers running the facility. A fifth chief executive officer in three years — Kevin Spiegel, who spent nearly a year at the hospital’s helm from 2024 to 2025 — was recently brought back by the hospital’s California-based ownership group after his predecessor, Daisy Rodriguez, resigned. She was tapped just in early August to lead Vista.
As Vista’s future may look bleak, some medical professionals believe consolidations can lead to savings in the long run and higher levels of care. There are many doubters of that claim.
The quality of patient care needs to be the priority at any health-care facility. Regulators must put the Rush-Endeavor merger under the microscope to make sure it is what is best for the future of health care in the region.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor, and editor. [email protected]. X @sellenews