Newswise — The University of Chicago Medicine is rolling out a new logo and rebranding Ingalls Memorial Hospital and its ambulatory facilities as part of a major initiative to reflect the academic medical center’s growing geographic reach and expanded services.
The new brand logo signals the organization’s transformation into a health system with multiple care locations, and builds on its connection to the University of Chicago while also elevating its brand promise by incorporating “at the forefront” into the word mark for the first time in the institution’s history. The logo features a larger university shield to reflect its academic relationship, shortens “University of Chicago Medicine” to “UChicago Medicine” for a bolder look and uses a more modern sans-serif font.
These changes follow an extensive discovery process that included interviews with leaders at Ingalls and UChicago Medicine, focus groups with consumers and patients, and key findings from a recent brand reputation study. The decision also supports the need to reflect UChicago Medicine’s expansion into a health system, which has included Ingalls since the two institutions merged in October 2016.
“UChicago Medicine is now much more than an academic medical center in Hyde Park, and the time is right for us to show that transformation through our logo and a broadened brand promise of being at the forefront of medicine, science and education,” said Kenneth S. Polonsky, executive vice president of medical affairs at the University of Chicago. “We now can provide a continuum of services in which academic medicine powers community care, fueled by our clinical excellence, research breakthroughs and teaching mission.”
UChicago Medicine — which comprises the University of Chicago Medical Center, Biological Sciences Division and Pritzker School of Medicine — also is making changes in its leadership structure to further enable its transformation into a health system. Starting Oct. 1, Polonsky will assume the new position of president of the health system and executive vice president for biology and medicine, and Sharon O’Keefe will add chief operating officer of the health system to her title of president of the University of Chicago Medical Center.
“Our new leadership structure, coupled with the new brand, represents our transformation into a comprehensive academic health system,” said O’Keefe, who will be responsible for administrative and operational oversight of the university medical center in Hyde Park, Ingalls Memorial Hospital and its facilities, and other practice locations in the community. “UChicago Medicine has benefitted, and will continue to benefit, from Ingalls’ expertise in successfully operating ambulatory facilities.”
Ingalls offers a regional network of top-rated outpatient services from highly respected physicians and specialists in modern settings throughout Chicago’s south suburbs. It also features innovative service offerings, such as macular degeneration treatment from world-class retinal specialists, spine surgery from renowned experts, and more oncology clinical trials than any other community hospital in the region. Ingalls shows its community stewardship in myriad ways, such as offering free health screening events, educational programs and health fairs that reach thousands of south suburban residents.
Integration with Ingalls
The unveiling of the new logo coincides with progress made to integrate UChicago Medicine and Ingalls. Since completion of the merger in October 2016, the two organizations have been working to improve patient flow and experience, and create unified service lines in heart care, cancer care and orthopaedics.
“This renewed identity will help us become a leading, integrated health system in Chicago’s Southland,” Ingalls President and CEO Kurt Johnson said. “We are working toward providing convenient, community-based health services that seamlessly connect with world-class specialty care.”
The Ingalls logo will transition to a combined presentation with UChicago Medicine. Under the new architecture, UChicago Medicine will be the umbrella brand and Ingalls will be the supporting entity, which preserves the 94-year history of the community-hospital system in Chicago’s Southland. Ingalls and its facilities in Harvey, Flossmoor, South Holland, Tinley Park, Calumet City and Crestwood will reflect the new logo in the coming months.
Both organizations continue to retain their names and operating licensure, and Ingalls still maintains a local board of directors and has representation on the University of Chicago Medical Center Board.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Find new UChicago Medicine and Ingalls logos and to find other material by going to this link: bit.ly/ucm-newbrandlogo
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About the University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences
The University of Chicago Medicine, with a history dating back to 1927, is one of the nation’s leading academic medical institutions. It comprises the University of Chicago Medical Center, Pritzker School of Medicine and the Biological Sciences Division. Its main Hyde Park campus is home to the Center for Care and Discovery, Bernard Mitchell Hospital, Comer Children’s Hospital and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine. Partnering with Harvey-based Ingalls, UChicago Medicine also has outpatient facilities that create a regional network of care in the city, Southland, and south and southwest suburbs. UChicago Medicine offers a full range of specialty-care services for adults and children through more than 40 institutes and centers including an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It has 811 licensed beds, nearly 850 attending physicians, about 2,500 nurses and over 1,100 residents and fellows. Ingalls has 478 beds, 450 physicians and about 675 nurses.
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