Advocate Aurora Health has completed its merger with North Carolina-based Atrium Health, creating a combined organization called Advocate Health that will be headquartered in Charlotte, the organization’s announced Friday.
The planned merger was originally announced in May. It makes the combined organization the fifth-largest nonprofit health care system in the country with combined revenues of $27 billion, 67 hospitals, 21,000 physicians and nearly 42,000 nurses.
“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.
Advocate Health will continue to use the Advocate, Aurora and Atrium brands in their respective communities. The organization also said it will maintain a strong presence in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas.
The organization’s Milwaukee area presence will include a planed institute for health equity.
“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.
Skogsbergh was CEO of Advocate Aurora Health, having initially served as co-CEO with Nick Turkal, who was CEO of Aurora Health Care when it merged with Advocate in 2018.
The board of the new Advocate Health will include an equal number of members from the Advocate Aurora and Atrium boards. Thomas Nelson, currently chair of Atrium Health, will serve as chair of the new board until Dec. 31, 2023. Michele Richardson, currently chair of Advocate Aurora, will then take over as chair for a two-year term.
