AMITA Health

AMITA Health was an interfaith, regional health-care system that operated in Illinois from 2015 until the dissolution of its joint venture in 2022. It was created in February 2015 through a partnership involving Alexian Brothers Health System, associated with Ascension, and Adventist Midwest Health, part of Adventist Health System. The venture combined hospitals, physician practices, outpatient locations and other care facilities under one operating identity, primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area and surrounding Illinois communities. The organization was not a consumer-goods company but a provider network whose activities centered on inpatient care, emergency medicine, outpatient treatment, specialty medicine, physician services and community health programs. Its interfaith character reflected the Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist institutional traditions inherited from the participating health systems and their predecessor religious organizations. The name AMITA was publicly described as having favorable associations in several languages, including meanings connected with honesty, spiritual light, boundlessness and friendship. A significant expansion occurred in 2018, when Ascension acquired Presence Health and integrated its operations into AMITA Health. This brought additional hospitals, medical groups and care locations into the system and increased its scale in Illinois. By 2021, AMITA Health operated 19 hospitals along with numerous medical offices and other facilities, making it one of the larger hospital networks in the state. The system experienced leadership turnover in 2019. Several executives, including founding chief executive Mark Frey, departed in September. In December of that year, Keith A. Parrot was appointed president and chief executive officer. The partnership was ultimately discontinued when Ascension and Adventist Health System announced on October 21, 2021, that they would dissolve the joint venture. The separation became effective on April 1, 2022. Adventist-affiliated locations adopted the AdventHealth identity, while facilities associated with Ascension, including former Presence Health and Alexian Brothers operations, were brought together under the Ascension Illinois name. AMITA Health therefore ceased to function as a unified active health-system brand.

AMITA Health was established in Illinois in February 2015 as an interfaith joint venture involving Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health. Alexian Brothers was associated with Ascension, while Adventist Midwest Health belonged to Adventist Health System. The partnership created a common operating identity for hospitals, medical offices, physician practices and other health-care facilities serving Illinois, particularly the Chicago metropolitan area. The system inherited a complex religious and institutional history. Its participating facilities had been founded or developed by Catholic religious congregations and by the Illinois Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Catholic heritage included organizations such as the Congregation of Alexian Brothers, the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Servants of the Holy Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth and the Sisters of the Resurrection. AMITA Health presented the resulting system as an interfaith organization rather than as a purely single-tradition network. The AMITA name was selected partly for its cross-cultural associations. Company representatives explained that the term had positive meanings in multiple languages, including associations with honesty and truth in Hebrew, spiritual light and boundlessness in Hindi, and friendship in Italian. This naming approach supported the venture's effort to combine the identities of its two parent systems. In 2018, Ascension acquired Presence Health and integrated Presence operations into AMITA Health. The transaction expanded the system's institutional footprint and added further hospitals, medical groups and care locations. By 2021, the organization operated 19 hospitals and numerous medical offices and other facilities across Illinois. Its services included inpatient and emergency care, outpatient treatment, specialty services, physician-led care and community health activities. Leadership changes followed in 2019. Several executives left in September, including original chief executive Mark Frey. In December, the organization appointed Keith A. Parrot as president and CEO. The leadership transition occurred while the system was managing the operational complexity of a large, multi-origin hospital network. The joint venture ended after Ascension and Adventist Health System announced its dissolution on October 21, 2021. The separation became effective on April 1, 2022. Adventist-affiliated hospitals and locations transitioned to the AdventHealth brand. Ascension-affiliated facilities, including former Presence Health and Alexian Brothers operations, were unified under Ascension Illinois. Because the network was divided between its two parent systems, AMITA Health no longer operated as a single active health-system brand after the transition.

1. 2022AMITA Health separation takes effect

   The network is divided between the two parent organizations. Adventist locations become part of AdventHealth, while Ascension-affiliated facilities operate under Ascension Illinois.

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2. 2021Joint venture dissolution announced

   Ascension and Adventist Health System announce that the AMITA Health joint venture will be dissolved and that the participating hospitals will return to their respective systems.

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3. 2019Senior leadership changes

   Several executives, including original CEO Mark Frey, leave the organization in September; Keith A. Parrot becomes president and CEO in December.

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4. 2018Presence Health operations join the system

   Ascension acquires Presence Health and integrates its hospitals and related operations into AMITA Health.

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5. 2015AMITA Health is established

   Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health form an interfaith Illinois health-care joint venture and begin operating under the AMITA Health name.

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An interfaith regional health system providing integrated hospital, outpatient, physician and community health services across Illinois.

• Hospital and inpatient careHospital services2015

  AMITA Health's core offering was hospital-based care delivered through a network of Illinois hospitals. Services included inpatient treatment, acute medical care and related clinical support. The hospitals originated from the Alexian Brothers, Adventist Midwest and later Presence Health systems, and were operated within the joint venture's integrated regional network.

• Outpatient and physician servicesAmbulatory health care2015

  The system operated medical offices, physician practices and outpatient locations in addition to its hospitals. These services supported consultations, diagnostic care, follow-up treatment and specialty medicine outside the inpatient setting, helping connect hospital operations with community-based care across Illinois.

• Emergency and specialty careClinical services2015

  AMITA Health provided emergency treatment and a range of specialty medical services through its hospital and ambulatory network. The available material identifies these services as part of the system's broader hospital and outpatient offering, but does not provide a complete specialty-by-specialty catalog.

• Community health servicesCommunity health2015

  Community-oriented health programs formed part of AMITA Health's regional mission. These activities complemented hospital and physician services and reflected the charitable and faith-based origins of the participating organizations.

• 2021Dissolve the AMITA Health joint ventureStrategy

  Ascension and Adventist Health System decided to end their shared operating structure after several years of joint management.

  What changed. The partners announced on October 21, 2021, that the joint venture would be dissolved and that each member hospital would remain with one of the original parent systems.

  Aftermath. The separation took effect on April 1, 2022. Adventist locations adopted the AdventHealth name, while Ascension locations were unified under Ascension Illinois, ending AMITA Health's operation as a unified brand.

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• 2018Integrate Presence Health into AMITA HealthM&A

  Ascension's acquisition of Presence Health created an opportunity to combine Presence facilities and medical operations with the existing AMITA Health network.

  What changed. Presence Health operations were incorporated into AMITA Health, expanding the system's hospital, medical-group and care-location footprint in Illinois.

  Aftermath. The integration contributed to AMITA Health's position as a large Illinois health system, operating 19 hospitals and numerous medical offices by 2021.

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• 2022AMITA Health separation becomes effective

  The joint venture separation took effect on April 1, 2022. Adventist locations adopted the AdventHealth name, while Ascension-affiliated facilities were consolidated under Ascension Illinois.

  Leadership change
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• 2021Ascension and Adventist Health System announce dissolution of AMITA Health joint venture

  The two parent organizations announced on October 21, 2021, that they would end their joint venture and return the participating hospitals to their respective organizational systems.

  M&A
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• 2019AMITA Health appoints Keith A. Parrot as president and CEO

  Following the departure of several executives, including founding CEO Mark Frey, AMITA Health appointed Keith A. Parrot as president and chief executive officer in December 2019.

  Leadership change
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1. AMITA Health