by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | September 12, 2023
Froedtert Health and ThedaCare are merging into an 18-hospital system. (Photo courtesy of Froedtert Health)
ThedaCare and Froedtert Health, in Wisconsin, will start off 2024 as a unified, 18-hospital healthcare system valued at nearly $5 billion.
The companies, which
announced their intent to merge in April, now say they have secured approval from their respective boards. Currently, both organizations serve non-overlapping areas and have a quaternary partnership that includes the Medical College of Wisconsin which has enabled them to improve access to advanced medicines and create two health campuses in Wisconsin’s Fond du Lac and Oshkosh communities.
Together, they say they will close care gaps, recruit and retain clinicians and staff members, and develop innovations to better meet patient needs.
“We are excited to continue the process of bringing our locally-led healthcare organizations together, working in concert with the Medical College of Wisconsin,” said Cathy Jacobson, president and CEO of Froedtert Health, in a statement.
Based in Milwaukee, Froedtert is made up of 10 hospitals, 2,100 providers, and 45 other care locations via its partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin. It has an annual revenue of just over $3.6 billion, as of June 2023.
ThedaCare is based in Neenah and has been around for 114 years. It has 180 points of care, including eight hospitals, run by approximately 7,000 providers and staff who care for over 650,000 residents across 17 counties in Northeast and Central Wisconsin. Its annual revenue was nearly $1.2 billion, as of December 2022.
They expect the merger to facilitate greater access to high-quality care for rural, suburban, and urban areas by eliminating healthcare disparities. Along with the Medical College of Wisconsin, the two will offer primary care, specialty care, clinical trials, graduate medical education, and more. Both will retain their brand names.
The combined organization will be governed by a parent board of members from both, including two members who serve on the boards of the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Health concurrently. It will be made up of 18 members, including the presidents and CEOs of Froedtert and ThedaCare.
Jud Snyder, Froedtert Health’s vice chair and chair-elect, will act as chair, while the vice chair will be Jim Kotek, ThedaCare’s board chair.
Jacobson will be CEO for the first six months, with ThedaCare president and CEO Dr. Imran Andrabi, FAAFM, serving as president. After this time, Jacobson will retire, and Andrabi, who has 30 years of medical, operational, and strategic experience, will become president and CEO.
Patients can continue to see their physicians and have access to the existing services they have always had. The community can keep up-to-date on the merger by visiting WIcareWIroots.com, an informational site dedicated to the process.
