NEW LENOX – Silver Cross Hospital and Medical Centers will retain its independence while being affiliated with the state’s largest health system, a Silver Cross official said.
New Lenox-based Silver Cross reached an affiliation agreement in late February with Advocate Health Care.
The agreement allows doctors at Silver Cross to join Advocate Physician Partners, which was formed by Advocate and more than 4,400 physicians with the goals of reducing costs while improving health care.
The affiliation will benefit both Silver Cross and Advocate, said Ruth Colby, senior vice president of business development at Silver Cross.
But Silver Cross will remain a separate institution, she said.
“One of our goals was to remain an independent institution. We’ve worked very hard to have a culture at Silver Cross that we want to continue embracing,” she said.
Under the agreement, Silver Cross maintains its own board of directors, balance sheet and name. Silver Cross’ board of directors – and not Advocate – will continue governing the hospital system’s strategy and goals, administrative hires, its budget and who can practice at the southwest suburban hospital, Colby said.
The agreement with Advocate will help both health care systems improve quality and outcomes while reducing the overall cost through coordinated care, she said.
“The health care industry is changing very, very rapidly,” Colby said. “Part of it is the Affordable Care Act.”
Hospitals are under more pressure than ever to manage and treat the increasing population of insured individuals, particularly those in Medicaid programs, she said. The overall goal is to reduce unnecessary costs while still improving quality of care, she said.
Under the agreement, which is expected to last five years, about 300 physicians at Silver Cross will join Advocate Physician Partners, which is jointly governed by Advocate and its member doctors.
Those 300 doctors at Silver Cross also will be able to improve care with the exchange of data within the Advocate system, she said.
Silver Cross was established in Joliet in 1895. It moved the hospital campus to New Lenox, three miles east from its original location, in 2011.