Endeavor Health is considering layoffs of as many as 100 staff members across its nine hospitals and other health care facilities in the Chicago area — but it declined to share any details on how that would affect Evanston Hospital.
According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the nonprofit health system is considering layoffs after losing more than $120 million in the first three quarters of 2024. The system has around 27,000 employees, and 100 employees represent only around 0.4% of all staff. But it’s hard to gauge the impact of the losses without knowing which positions will be cut and at which hospitals.
The RoundTable reached out to Endeavor Health to try to get a sense of how the losses might impact Evanston Hospital. The statement sent in response did not give any specifics, but described the layoffs as necessary.
“We are committed to providing safe, seamless and personal care to the patients and communities we serve,” it stated. “Like many in the health care industry, we are entering 2025 facing significant cost pressures and headwinds that require our organization to adapt and think differently. We continue to implement a comprehensive plan to deliver on our priorities, maximize our talent and resources and operate efficiently. In some cases, changes may include difficult decisions such as the elimination or realignment of certain positions.”
‘Relatively limited’ impact
Endeavor said that it expects “the number of individuals impacted by any changes to be relatively limited.” It promised “support” that would include “a thoughtful internal communication plan.”
“While these decisions are never easy, we are confident that our long-term path forward will allow us to continue our commitment to providing excellent, personalized care to our patients and communities,” the statement said.
According to Crain’s, Endeavor had a third-quarter operating margin of -11%, compared to a national average of 4.3%. Many of the factors impacting their financial results also affect other nonprofit hospitals, including higher operating expenses and struggles to collect insurance payments from private insurance companies and Medicaid plans.
Endeavor Health came about from a merger between NorthShore University HealthSystems and the Edward-Elmhurst Health system in early 2022. The joint system was originally called NorthShore-Edward-Elmhurst Health, but they decided to rebrand to Endeavor, and announced the change in December 2023. Evanston Hospital was the original hospital in what would eventually become NorthShore.
Merger impact
According to Becker’s Hospital Review, the expenses involved in a merger put a strain on the combined system’s bottom line. Evanston Patch also noted that a $453 million charge resulted from settling lawsuits over former physician and admitted sex abuser Dr. Fabio Ortega.
Since the merger, the system consolidated its open heart surgeries and other non-emergency heart health services at Glenbrook Hospital. The transition was completed in May 2024. As Endeavor noted at the time, the move wasn’t unprecedented. In 2019, Skokie Hospital, which NorthShore acquired in 2009, became home to NorthShore Orthopaedic & Spine Institute, where system patients got surgeries and treatment for specialized bone, joint and spinal injuries. Patients with bone and spinal injuries can get emergency care and less-involved procedures elsewhere in the system.
2024 also saw Endeavor shift nearly all of its primary care physicians into an “integrated care model” for recipients of traditional Medicare and having them market Medicare Advantage plans offered by an Endeavor-owned insurance company through letters to patients signed by their own doctors.
Endeavor considers layoffs, but impact on Evanston Hospital unclear is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.