Atrium, Wake Forest Baptist officially combine, paving way for Charlotte med school
In a major change for healthcare and education in the Charlotte region, Atrium Health announced Friday it has officially combined with Wake Forest Baptist Health, including the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The partnership will bring a medical school to Charlotte, which is the largest city in the U.S. without a four-year medical school, according to Atrium. It’s part of an ambitious move to “create a ‘Silicon Valley’ for healthcare innovation, spanning from Winston-Salem to Charlotte,” Atrium CEO Gene Woods said in a news conference Friday.
The partnership was first announced in April 2019. The combined health system will have over 70,000 employees, 42 hospitals and more than 1,500 care locations, according to Atrium.
Atrium gave a first look at renderings of the future Charlotte medical school in August. The medical school could launch with 3,200 students across 100 programs and 1,600 faculty members, Woods said at the time. Woods hasn’t said when the medical school in Charlotte could open.
The official combination announcement had to wait for approval from the Federal Trade Commission. That approval came this week, Woods said.
The announcement also comes just days after rival hospital system Novant Health landed a critical vote in a $5 billion deal to buy a Wilmington hospital, expanding into southeastern N.C. Novant could have more than 36,000 employees after that deal goes through state regulatory review.
Critics of consolidation
Both deals follow a trend toward hospital consolidation across the country. But some critics of consolidation warn it can mean rising prices for patients.
Some of the details of the Atrium and Wake Forest Baptist combination are still unclear.
But if the two systems plan to negotiate with insurance companies as one entity, “Patients, frankly, can expect higher prices and expect higher insurance premiums,” said Barak Richman, a Duke Law School professor with expertise in health care policy. “That’s a prediction that is borne out very thoroughly.”
In a statement, Atrium spokesman Dan Fogleman said all current agreements with insurance companies will remain in place, adding, “We will be approaching future contracts with a shared services approach when and where it makes sense.”
Big economic impact
The health systems will combine under the name Atrium Health.
Based on an independent economic analysis, the immediate direct and indirect annual economic and employment impact from the combined enterprise exceeds $32 billion and 180,000 jobs, according to Atrium.
Woods will serve as president and CEO of the combined health systems, and Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Health and dean of Wake Forest School of Medicine, will be the chief academic officer for Atrium Health.
In North Carolina, the combination will mean that half of state residents will live “just within miles” from one of Atrium’s locations, Woods said in a news conference Friday.
“In fact, every other second, a new patient interaction will take place in our organization,” Woods said. “Everything we are doing is about providing life-changing care.”
In a statement, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the health system combination will bring economic opportunity to the city.
“This combination fills so many needs,” Lyles said in a statement released by Atrium. “We’ve needed a four-year medical school in Charlotte for decades. …It truly will have a positive impact on our city for generations to come.”
Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist Health will keep their own individual governing boards, but will also appoint a 16-member board of directors to govern the combined enterprise.
Medical school
The medical school in Charlotte will be a second campus for the Wake Forest School of Medicine. No location for the medical school has been announced.
The new Atrium combination will be the only entity with two four-year medical school locations in the region, Wake Forest University President Nathan Hatch said.
“I’m so pleased that both of these cultures really seek innovation,” Hatch said about Atrium and Wake Forest Baptist. “The opportunity to start a new kind of medical school offers us a tabula rasa, a blank slate. And I think that’s a rare opportunity.”
Freischlag said some third-year medical students from Winston-Salem will begin rotations in Charlotte locations starting in the spring of 2021.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 11:45 AM.
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