The University of Chicago Medicine and Ingalls Health System completed a merger on October 4, 10 months after signing a letter of intent to combine the two institutions for the purpose of improving health care throughout South and Southwest areas of Chicago.

Ingalls, an independent hospital in Southland suburb Harvey, is to be integrated into the UChicago Medicine brand. 

Kenneth Polonsky, the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC)’s executive vice president for medical affairs, told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month that UCMC was in communication with other community hospitals. 

A press release published by UChicago Medicine states that both organizations will keep their names and operating licensure. Additionally, Ingalls will maintain a local board of directors and be represented on the UCMC board. UCMC will serve as the corporate parent to Ingalls.

“The transaction joins assets to create a hospital system that is stronger combined than each institution is individually,” the press release reads. “That includes Ingalls’s five outpatient centers, as well as UChicago Medicine’s main medical campus in Hyde Park, planned ambulatory facilities in Orland Park and the South Loop, and expansive network of physicians.”