In an era of increasing health system consolidation, North Carolina’s Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist Health and Wake Forest University have agreed to work toward combining into a single academic healthcare system. The three organizations said they would build on the excellence of Wake Forest School of Medicine and develop a second state-of-the-art campus in Charlotte.
Atrium Health is a highly integrated not-for-profit healthcare system with nearly 14 million patient interactions each year across 42 hospitals and more than 900 care locations. Wake Forest Baptist Health is an academic medical center and regional healthcare system with 2.2 million patient interactions each year across seven hospitals and more than 400 care locations. In a press release, the three organizations said combining would:
• Bring together Atrium Health’s destination clinical programs such as Cancer, Children’s, Heart and Musculoskeletal, along with Wake Forest Baptist Health’s clinical leadership and differentiating research in Aging and Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes and Obesity, Neurosciences and Regenerative Medicine;
• Transform health for communities served through innovative data and evidence-driven public health programs, value-based care models that improve social determinants of health, and next-generation primary care experiences that seek to dramatically improve and maintain health and well-being; and
• Invest in a proposed Translational Research and Population Health Center in Winston-Salem, to accelerate the best possible practices for patients, while improving quality and making care more affordable for all, including drawing from the experience and track record of CHESS, the organizations’ population health services company.
“We are eager to bring this shared vision for our future to life with Atrium Health,” said Julie Ann Freischlag, M.D., CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Health and dean of Wake Forest School of Medicine, in a prepared statement. “It’s incredible to think about the impact we can make, together, advancing patient-centered research, a next-generation curriculum and active population health analytics across our combined footprint. We can create amazing outcomes that embrace true change – most importantly enhancing, extending and saving the lives of countless people.”
Building on the momentum of the recently opened Wake Forest Bowman Gray Center for Medical Education in Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter, the organization would begin to envision a second innovative campus in Charlotte over the next few years. A combined organization would:
• Educate nearly 3,200 total healthcare learners – including students, residents and fellows across more than 100 specialized training programs each year;
• Attract top medical education faculty to enhance innovative teaching methods and create new models of care, adding to the already 1,650 full-time and part-time faculty positions at Wake Forest School of Medicine and Atrium Health; and
• Offer the largest post-graduate fellowship program for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in the nation, as well as critical experience for medical student education throughout an integrated academic healthcare system.
The combined organization would have broader research capabilities as well. It could:
• Coordinate many large and ground-breaking multi-site clinical research collaborations around the U.S. that are affecting millions of lives today, such as the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), the Search for Diabetes in Youth (SEARCH) and POINTER, a U.S. study to protect brain health through lifestyle intervention;
• Care for over 340,000 patients struggling with cardiovascular disease, and nearly 1.4 million North Carolinians in rural areas of the state; and
• Work toward growing scientific and analytics jobs in the Winston-Salem area.
By signing a memorandum of understanding, the organizations have agreed to start a period of exclusive negotiations, with the goal of entering into a final agreement later this year.
