Jordan Shields Quoted in Chicago Tribune’s “Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, Cadence Health Pursuing Merger”

Jordan Shields was quoted in the Chicago Tribune article “Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, Cadence Health Pursuing Merger,” which announced the systems’ signing of a letter of intent to enter into integration talks. The combined system would be comprised of four hospitals, and annual revenue would approach $3 billion.

Jordan commented on the possible ramifications of this major announcement for the Chicago hospital market. He also spoke more broadly about the ongoing challenges faced by stand-alone hospitals as they attempt to provide high quality care in today’s rapidly changing environment.

“Despite a string of hospital mergers in recent years, Chicago is among the least-consolidated markets in the country,” said Shields. “The fact that Northwestern and Cadence, which both boast strong balance sheets, aren’t doing this because they have to (financially) really speaks strongly to the direction health care is going. This is about strong systems recognizing they can deliver better care for their communities by teaming up versus going it alone.”

Shields continued, “The decision to pair up also reflects the success larger systems like Advocate have had winning contracts to coordinate care for large groups of patients, and share in the savings they achieve by keeping costs low and quality high.”

“People are looking at that and recognizing that as stand-alone sites of care, they just won’t be able to compete. This is a small step in moving toward a structure that makes more sense in the market.”

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