With state approval, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital to become part of Loyola health system
January 29, 2008, Maywood, Illinois - Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park will, pending state approval, become part of the Loyola University Health System, which includes Loyola University Medical Center, under an agreement announced by the two organizations today.
Gottlieb Memorial Hospital will remain a full-service, community hospital under the terms of the agreement. Loyola University Health System’s Board of Directors will assume governance of all Gottlieb entities, including the 250-bed hospital, the Gottlieb Health & Fitness Center and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center, all located on the Melrose Park campus. These facilities are all currently part of parent company Gottlieb Health Resources.
“This agreement represents the coming together of two respected not-for-profit institutions that complement each other, the sum of which will greatly enhance health care in the area,” said Paul K. Whelton, M.D., CEO, of Loyola University Health System, at an announcement on Gottlieb’s campus. The event was attended by senior leadership from both organizations as well as physicians and employees.
“My grandparents, Dorothy and David Gottlieb, founded Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in 1961 to bring quality medical care to the communities in the western suburbs and northwest Chicago,” said Gottlieb Memorial Hospital board chairman Jack Weinberg.
“This agreement builds upon Gottlieb’s long-standing commitment to provide a full range of services to residents and will enhance care for patients.”
Loyola University Health System, headquartered in Maywood, has grown significantly in recent years. The agreement helps address critical capacity issues for the 570-licensed bed Loyola University Hospital and associated outpatient clinics throughout the western suburbs.
This agreement will allow patients at Gottlieb to participate in clinical trials conducted at Loyola and access the cutting edge care that is the hallmark of a major teaching hospital.
Pending state approval of the transaction, Loyola will relocate most of its general obstetrics and general gynecology services and its orthopaedic joint program to the Gottlieb campus, which will be known as Loyola University Health System at Gottlieb, once the transaction is finalized.
The two hospitals’ medical staffs will remain separate and there are no plans to eliminate positions at either facility as a result of this transaction.
“Pairing a world-class teaching hospital with a highly skilled community hospital and medical staff creates a powerful synergy that will benefit our patients,” said John Morgan, president of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.
“Together, we can optimize health care and clinical innovations for the thousands of individuals who turn to us for care each year.”
The transaction calls for Gottlieb to provide $15 million from its assets for future operating capital and $75 million to create the Gottlieb Memorial Foundation, a charitable organization created to support future health initiatives at Gottlieb.
“We are very pleased that this foundation will build upon Gottlieb’s long-standing mission of establishing advanced clinical services to enhance care in our community,” said Weinberg.
“We will be submitting our request for the necessary state review of this transaction to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and look forward to working with the Board to receive its approval,” stated Dr. Whelton. He added, “It is our hope that we will receive approval and be able to complete this transaction by early summer.”
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The 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 medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-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, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.