Rush and Endeavor Health plan to merge into a 12-hospital Chicago-area system
The proposed deal would join two large nonprofit systems in a market with no dominant player, and a KFF researcher noted that hospital consolidation has been linked to higher prices.
Rush University System for Health and Endeavor Health announced plans Oct. 14 to merge into a single system of 12 hospitals and more than 400 care sites across northern Illinois and Northwest Indiana, according to Rush's announcement1. The combined system would operate under the Rush name and serve more than 2 million patients a year, the systems said.
Endeavor had about $6.4 billion in revenue in 2025 and Rush about $4.4 billion, the Chicago Sun-Times reported2, which puts the pair at nearly $11 billion together.
The open question for patients and employers is price. A researcher at KFF told the Sun-Times that mergers can make hospitals more efficient but can also raise costs for patients, and pointed to research finding that consolidation has led to higher prices without clear gains in quality. The systems' announcement did not address prices.
A representative of the National Nurses Organizing Committee told the paper that nurses worry mergers lead to service cuts and higher health care costs, and that the union wants regulators to block any merger that does not protect all services.
The systems describe the deal as a way to expand access and research. Endeavor Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said in the announcement that the two systems have "an opportunity to create a stronger, more connected health system." Rush Chief Executive Omar Lateef told the Sun-Times the goal is to take the highest quality care and expand it to all their sites.
Endeavor brings nine hospitals, including Evanston, Swedish, Edward, Elmhurst and Northwest Community, and Rush brings three: Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, according to the announcement and the Sun-Times. The combined workforce would be more than 46,000 employees and clinicians.
Endeavor itself is the product of a 2022 merger of NorthShore University HealthSystem and Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare, and it is the third-largest system in Illinois, Healthcare Dive reported3. Chicago has many competing providers, including Northwestern Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine and Advocate Health, but no dominant player, according to Healthcare Dive, which described the deal as a bid for scale rather than a rescue. Rush reported $294 million in net income for the 12 months ended June 30, up 57% from a year earlier, the outlet reported.
Under the plan, Gallagher would become president and chief executive of the combined system when the deal closes. Lateef would stay in his role until then and become chief executive emeritus and a strategic adviser. A 20-person board would have equal representation from both systems and be led by a chair from Rush. Endeavor has committed to fund an additional $1 billion investment in community programs, academics and research, and care quality and innovation, according to the announcement.
The systems are targeting a close in early 2027, pending regulatory review and approval, the announcement said. The review could take months, and not much will change for patients in the meantime, the Sun-Times reported. The announcement did not name the agencies that will review the deal or give a date for a decision.
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