Newswise — Loyola University Chicago (LUC) and Trinity Health, based in Novi, Mich., have announced that Loyola University Health System (LUHS), located in Maywood, Ill., has become a part of Trinity Health, effective today. LUHS was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of the University.

With the consolidation, Trinity Health and LUHS join forces to bring increased resources and greater efficiencies for patients who rely on the health system's cutting-edge treatments and exceptional care. At the same time, Trinity Health and LUHS will work closely with LUC’s recently reorganized Health Sciences Division to support health-sciences education and research. The entities will work collaboratively to become one of the nation’s leading providers of Catholic health care, research, and medical education.

“This collaboration holds great promise for the future and is an excellent foundation for growth to better serve the Chicago-area community,” said Joseph R. Swedish, president and CEO of Trinity Health. “The consolidation brings together two strong Catholic health systems committed to investing in patient care, infrastructure, facilities, and research. I am confident that, together, Trinity Health, LUC, and LUHS will become a leader for Catholic collaboration in Chicago and across the nation.”

Per the agreement, Trinity Health becomes the owner of LUHS, while the Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, along with several key research programs and initiatives, will remain within the University. The organizations will remain interconnected, as Trinity Health will also support these schools by investing in health-sciences education and research, and LUHS physicians will continue to have faculty roles within Stritch.

“Loyola University Chicago has been providing outstanding medical education and research for more than 100 years,” said Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., president of Loyola University Chicago. “We recently reorganized Loyola’s Health Sciences Division to clarify and enhance the University's academic and research enterprise at the medical center campus and to establish a strong University partner aligned fully with LUHS’s clinical operations and patient care. We have an optimal structure for educating physicians, nurses, and other health care workers and for conducting game-changing health care research to benefit our local communities and beyond.”

Today’s announcement brings a close to a process that began in March with the filing of a Letter of Intent to consolidate. Since then, LUC and Trinity Health have received the required regulatory approvals, finalized a Definitive Agreement, and obtained approvals from the LUC and Trinity Health boards.

About Loyola University Chicago (LUC.edu)Committed to preparing people to lead extraordinary lives, Loyola University Chicago, founded in 1870, is the nation's largest Jesuit, Catholic university. Enrollment is nearly 16,000 students, which includes more than 10,000 undergraduates hailing from all 50 states and 82 countries. The University has four campuses: three in the greater Chicago area and one in Rome, Italy. Loyola also serves as the U.S. host university to The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies in Beijing, China, and now features an academic center in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Loyola's 10 schools and colleges include arts and sciences, business administration, communication, education, graduate studies, law, medicine, nursing, continuing and professional studies, and social work. Loyola offers 71 undergraduate majors, 71 undergraduate minors, 85 master's degrees, and 31 doctoral degrees. Loyola is consistently ranked among the "top national universities" by U.S.News & World Report, and the University is among a select group of universities recognized for community service and engagement by prestigious national organizations, such as the Carnegie Foundation and the Corporation for National and Community Service. For more information about Loyola, please visit LUC.edu.

About Trinity Health (trinity-health.org)Trinity Health is the fourth-largest Catholic health care system in the country. Based in Novi, Mich., Trinity Health operates 47 acute-care hospitals, 379 outpatient facilities, 31 long-term care facilities, and numerous home health offices and hospice programs in 10 states. Employing more than 56,000 full-time staff, Trinity Health reported $7.0 billion in unrestricted revenue in fiscal year 2010. As a not-for-profit health system, Trinity Health reinvests its profits back into the community through programs to serve the poor and uninsured, manage chronic conditions like diabetes, health education and promotion initiatives, and outreach for the elderly. In fiscal 2010, this included nearly $460 million in such community benefits. For more information about Trinity Health, visit www.trinity-health.org or become a fan of the Trinity Health Facebook page at www.facebook.com/trinityhealth.

About Loyola University Health System (loyolamedicine.org)Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary-care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, a 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus, and 22 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will, and DuPage counties. The main medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the main medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center, and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, and Loyola Oral Health Center, as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine and the Loyola Center for Health & Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Health & Fitness Center, and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center. The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing is located on the University’s Lake Shore Campus. A new nursing school building is being constructed on the Maywood Campus.

MEDIA CONTACT
Register for reporter access to contact details