Chicago area nurses union calls for service protections amid Rush, Endeavor health systems merger – Shaw Local

Chicago area nurses union calls for service protections amid Rush, Endeavor health systems merger  Shaw Local

Two major Chicago-area health systems are merging, bringing together 12 hospitals and more than 400 care sites, serving more than 2 million patients, according to an announcement from Rush University System for Health and Endeavor Health. Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora and Endeavor Health’s Edward Hospital in Naperville would join a single 12-hospital system under the Rush name, through a merger between Rush University System for Health and Endeavor Health, the systems announced this week. The combined system would serve more than 2 million patients and employ more than 46,000 workers and clinicians across northern Illinois and northwest Indiana, according to a joint news release from Rush and Endeavor. Nurses’ union leaders said Thursday they want state and federal regulators to block the deal unless it guarantees that services are protected.

The National Nurses Organizing Committee represents more than 9,000 nurses in the Chicago area, said Brenda Langford, a registered nurse on the union’s board of directors. “Hospital mergers are big corporate transactions that result in higher prices, service cuts, and other moves to maximize profits. The proposed merger of Rush and Endeavor is no different,” Langford said Thursday in a statement to Shaw Local News Network. Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights recently came under the umbrella of Endeavor Health. The system announced plans Thursday, Oct. 14, 2026,