Loyola can regain some bargaining power and increase the referral rate by adding hospitals to its network. CEO Shawn Vincent did not rule out this possibility.

“Can you have three (hospitals) in the local area like we do now? Yes,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean you stop looking. You can always choose the right person.”

Currently, Loyola’s goal is to compete by increasing digital and family health services and opening multi-specialty outpatient care centers that treat patients in a cheaper outpatient environment closer to where they live. But the strategy itself is not cheap. It is not unique to Loyola either.

“Chicago has enough hospital beds. The question is where healthcare is heading, and whether you are responding to the needs of the community in areas where healthcare is expanding,” said Mike Slubowski, CEO of Trinity. “We have invested a lot of money in digital health, family health, home monitoring, and creating accessible clinic locations-everything from emergency care to multi-discipline group practice.”

Vincent said that as part of this strategy, Loyola is consolidating its smaller clinics into large multi-specialty outpatient care centers.

Loyola Plan to spend $70 million The construction of such a center in Tinley Park, a southwestern suburb, awaits national approval. The nearly 72,000-square-foot center is designed to serve more than 15,000 patients receiving treatment at the Loyola site in the area, as well as others currently traveling to further areas for treatment.

The project was launched nearly a year after Northwestern University acquired Palos. Due to the union, Loyola’s lease at Palos Health South Campus will end on April 1, 2022.

Since many of the patients treated at the campus historically have been Loyola patients, Vincent said he hopes to maintain a strong patient base in the area. But industry observers say that if patients with complex needs are willing to go to the Northwest Memorial Hospital near Chicago’s Streeterville, Loyola may lose a referral from Dr. Palos.

“If they don’t find a way to build a partnership to support their primary care feed system, thereby increasing referrals, or find a way to expand their reach and push more patients into the system,” consulting firm Lumina Health Said Dan Marino, managing partner of Partners. Marino suggested that Loyola could seek cooperation with another faith-based hospital chain in the area.

Loyola has shown willingness to make acquisitions in the past. It acquired McNeill Hospital in Berwyn in 2018 and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park 10 years ago. Merger negotiations with Palos Health in 2019 It ends without a deal.

If Loyola is looking for a deal, Plan to break up A joint venture between two out-of-state chain stores in the Chicago area may create opportunities. Amita Health includes 15 local Catholic hospitals owned by Ascension in St. Louis and four Chicago area hospitals owned by AdventHealth in Florida. Any of these hospitals could be Loyola’s target.

A growing Catholic chain like the 15 hospitals OSF HealthCare represents another possibility.Peoria-based chain Enter the local market Last year it merged with the small company of the Queen Mary Hospital in Changqing Park in the southern suburbs. If OSF is looking for more hospitals in the Chicago area, Loyola can be an attractive merger partner.

“We have been exploring potential opportunities to expand our mission and provide the highest quality care to our patients and the communities we serve, but we are not actively engaged in dialogue with local faith-based chain hospitals,” Wen Sente said.

Representatives from Ascension and AdventHealth Chicago Regional Hospital did not respond to requests for comment. OSF stated that it “is always open to collaborative discussions when it makes sense.”

It is unlikely that short-term financial pressures will force Loyo to pull out. The chain is profitable, with operating income of nearly US$2 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30 and net income of US$199 million.

“Whether Trinity wants to develop in this market is a question,” Classen said. “This is a unique market with many academic medical centers, so compared to Trinity’s other markets, profit margins may be somewhat challenging.”

Trinity has shown that it is unwilling to suffer losses in this market.it Sale of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center After the state rejected an application to close the historic safety net hospital, it was sold for $1 earlier this year. Trinity plans to open a US$13 million outpatient center in Bronzeville under the Mercy brand.

“We are very committed to Illinois,” Slubowski said, and vowed to expand Loyola to “the entire continuum of care—not just emergency care.”

This story first appeared in our sister publication Crain’s Chicago Business.