Little Company of Mary Pursues Possible Partnership With Rush Health

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers announce plans to pursue a potential partnership with the Rush Health system. Both parties signed a non-binding letter of intent on and are undergoing due diligence. Under the proposed arrangement, LCMH would remain a Catholic ministry.

The potential integration is part of Little Company of Mary Hospital’s long-term strategy to expand and continue to offer advanced health care to Chicago’s southwest communities, hospital representatives said in a news release. LCMH is a 272-bed community hospital with more than 2,000 employees located in Evergreen Park.

Sister Sharon Ann Walsh, LCM, American Province Leader of the Little Company of Mary Sisters and the chair of the Little Company of Mary Hospital Board of Directors, along with the Little Company of Mary Sisters and LCMH’s board, approved the non-binding letter of intent Oct. 3. The Rush system board approved the letter on Sept. 28 and the Archdiocese of Chicago approved it on Sept. 29, according to a hospital news release.

The Archdiocese has also been actively involved in what has been an year-long process, an LCMH representative said. The Archdiocese recognizes that the Rush system would be able to maintain LCMH’s commitment to its Catholic healthcare ministry. The proposed integration is subject to further due diligence by both organizations. Both parties need to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals as they work on a definitive agreement, which is expected to take several months.

Walsh said the possibility of merging with Rush Health would allow the LCMH to offer more advanced services to patients.

“Our sisters have been involved in a long and thoughtful discernment process, and we feel confident that aligning with Rush would allow us to continue to serve our community, as we have for nearly 90 years,” Walsh said in a news release. “We have a longstanding bond with our community because of the unwavering commitment of our dedicated physicians, other medical professionals and the devotion of our employees.”

Michael Dandorph, president of the Rush system and of Rush University Medical Center, called Little Company of Mary Hospital a “great organization with deep roots in the community.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Little Company of Mary Hospital to expand the delivery of the highest quality, comprehensive services that are coordinated, cost-effective, accessible, and responsive to what individuals, employers, and payors are expecting from healthcare providers,” Dandorph added.

Over the next several months, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Cusack said via email that LCMH would be defining and agreeing on the terms of the definitive agreement with Rush as part of the due diligence process.

Rush has a history of working with health care providers in the Chicago region in aras such as the neurosciences, cancer, and high-risk infant and obstetrics care. Located on Chicago’s near West Side, Rush has been exploring a number of strategies for making its services and physicians more accessible to patients who come to Rush from a wide area of Illinois and Northwest Indiana, Rush representatives said.

Should the partnership go through, Little Company of Mary Hospital would become the fourth hospital in the Rush system, which currently includes Rush University Medical Center on Chicago’s West Side, Oak Park-based Rush Oak Park Hospital (Oak Park), and Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora.