APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — ThedaCare and Froedtert Health are coming together as one.
Appleton-based ThedaCare and Milwaukee-based Froedtert have signed a letter of intent to start a process to combine their organizations into one health system.
The health care systems say it’s to advance local health care for their patients and improve the health and well-being of their communities.
“We’ve been very fortunate in the Fox Valley to have physicians and providers who are really dedicated to community health and we are excited about the possibilities that we have with Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin with academic health and academic medicine,” said Dr. Imran Andrabi, ThedaCare president and CEO.
Leaders of both organizations jointly announced the merger Tuesday and took limited questions from reporters.
Any potential impact on current patients and employees was not clear.
“We’re really excited on what we plan to do together,” said Cathy Jacobson, president and CEO of Froedtert Health.
It comes after the two health systems announced a partnership to expand services in September.
“I think about a partner, like the Medical College of Wisconsin and the ability to take the next generations of physicians and providers who potentially come in that pipeline,” said Dr. Andrabi.
In October, the two announced a plan to build hospitals in Fond du Lac and Oshkosh.
At that time, the systems said there were were no plans to merge.
“As we got to work together on our quaternary agreement with our partners at the Medical College and then our joint venture, we found out just how easy it was to come together and create those partnerships because of how aligned we really were,” said Jacobson. “So it became a natural next step where we just continued on.”
Now, the health systems say turning into one organization will build on their past work together to close health care gaps and recruit and retain staff.
“When people come to medical school in Wisconsin, and stay in as residency in Wisconsin, the chances of you staying in the state of Wisconsin and taking care of people is over 70%,” said Dr. Andrabi.
Both Andrabi and Jacobson say they hope this merger will attract more national talent to Wisconsin.
“Because you can hear us talking a lot obviously about how we want to be the leader in Wisconsin but there’s fresh ideas everywhere across the country,” said Jacobson.
ThedaCare is the third-largest health care employer in Wisconsin. It’s also the largest employer in the Fox Valley with more than 7,000 employees.
Following the launch of the combined health system, Froedtert Health President and CEO Cathy Jacobson will initially assume the role of CEO, and ThedaCare President and CEO Dr. Imran Andrabi, will serve as president.
After a six-month transition period following the launch of the combined health system, Jacobson will retire from the organization.
Upon her retirement, Dr. Andrabi will take over the role of president and CEO of the combined organization.
Over the next several months, Froedtert and ThedaCare will work toward refining the details of a definitive agreement. The goal is to launch the combined health system by the end of this year.
