OSF, Little Company of Mary Merger Takes Effect Saturday

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — At the stroke of midnight on Feb. 1, the merger of OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center will become complete. Plans to explore a possible merger between the two Catholic healthcare systems began last summer. The merger allows OSF HealthCare and LCMH to share services, develop and expand academic partnerships.

Information technology systems including patient medical records, lab, pharmacy, and every other technology that runs a hospital will make the switch on Saturday. The 30th anniversary of the Crystal Heart Ball, benefiting the emergency department, takes place in the evening at the Field Museum.

A special program is planned for Monday, Feb. 3, to officially welcome OSF Little Company of Mary into the OSF family. The community-based, Catholic medical center in Evergreen Park has 298 beds, as well as a Cancer Center affiliated with the Medical Oncology Group of the University of Chicago Hospitals, and 10 satellite facilities.

Peoria-based OSF HealthCare currently operates 13 hospitals outside the Chicago area, in central and downstate Illinois. The merger with Little Company of Mary will give OSF a clinical presence in Chicago.