Advocate-Aurora deal clears final regulatory hurdle

The proposed merger between Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care cleared its final regulatory hurdle, paving the way for a 27-hospital system spanning Illinois to Wisconsin with $10.7 billion in combined revenue.

Wisconsin regulators signed off on the deal late last week. The Federal Trade Commission and the chair of the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved the merger in February. The AdvocateAurora combination will create the country’s 10th largest not-for-profit hospital system.

The deal is expected to close April 1. Jim Skogsbergh, CEO of Advocate, and Dr. Nick Turkal, CEO of Milwaukee-based Aurora, will be co-CEOs of the new Advocate Aurora Health.

Regional consolidations are trending across the industry as organizations cope with waning inpatient volume and government reimbursement paired with rising labor, technology and compliance costs. Scale will help them negotiate better rates with suppliers and payers and expand patient access through boosting investment in outpatient facilities and telemedicine. Crunching data on regional populations can also reveal the most profitable service lines, clinical quality performance, their current position with payers and the strength of their physician network.

Advocate Aurora Health will employ more than 3,300 physicians and nearly 70,000 associates and caregivers while serving about 2.7 million patients every year across more than 500 locations.