Alexian, Adventist to form a partnership — not a merger

Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health have reached a defining agreement to form a partnership with their nine total hospitals.

Pending regulatory approvals, five Alexian Brothers hospitals and four Adventist Midwest hospitals in suburban Chicago will join together, creating an integrated health care system that will serve a combined population of more than 3.8 million people.

But the CEOs have stressed that the systems are not merging.

They anticipate their partnership will be finalized by the end of January.

The two systems would maintain separate ownership of their assets and their finances. Yet, they are looking to create an overarching umbrella company that would handle long-term planning and strategy for the nine combined hospitals in suburban Chicago.

They would also preserve their respective religious identities, they said in a news release.

Alexian Brothers, a Catholic health care organization that is part of St. Louis-based Ascension, and Adventist Midwest, which is a Seventh-day Adventist health system based in Hinsdale, announced in June that they had signed a non-binding letter of intent to form the partnership. In the months since that announcement, they have engaged in due diligence, culminating in the definitive agreement, a spokesman for Alexian Brothers said.

More information about the agreement wasn’t immediately available.