Endeavor Health, including its nine Chicago-area hospitals, announced Wednesday it plans to merge under the umbrella of Rush University System for Health, according to hospital officials.
For now, not much will change for patients as the proposed merger will undergo a regulatory process that could take months before it’s approved. If approved, the combined the health system would include 12 hospitals in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, which could make it one of the largest health systems in the area.
Endeavor Health hospitals include Swedish Hospital, Evanston Hospital, Edward Hospital, Skokie Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital, Highland Park Hospital, Linden Oaks Hospital and Northwest Community Hospital. Under the proposed merger, the hospitals would continue to operate but with Rush branding.
Dr. Omar Lateef, president and CEO of the Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center, said the goal is to improve access to patients and opportunities for its workforce. The proposed combined system would include its current hospitals — Rush University Medical Center, Rush Copley Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital.
“If you need a clinical trial, this should open up clinical trials,” Lateef said. “If you need access to a higher level or a more local type of care, then you can get it where you are. The goal of this is to enhance access, to take the highest quality of care and expand it to all our sites and make any patient who is in that site seamlessly able to go to another site.”
If the merger closes, Lateef would take on a role as CEO emeritus and serve as a strategic adviser while J.P. Gallagher, the current leader of Endeavor Health, will become the president and CEO of the new combined health system, according to a news release.
The merger between two of the biggest hospital systems in the Chicago area would create a more than $10 billion giant and comes as Endeavor inches back from a financial loss, records show.
Endeavor had around $6.4 billion in 2025, but lost around $34 million that year, and lost nearly $500 million the year before mostly due to legal settlements, records show. So far this year, Endeavor looks to be turning those losses around.
Rush had around $4.4 billion in revenue in 2026. Both are nonprofits.
The proposed combined system is part of a larger trend of consolidation happening in hospital markets across the country, said Zachary Levinson, project director of KFF Project on Hospital Costs. KFF is a nonprofit health policy research, polling and news organization.
Mergers can help hospitals operate more efficiently and help those financially struggling keep their doors open, Levinson said. But it could also drive up the cost for patients.
“Mergers often reduce competition and that could allow hospitals to charge more for care,” Levinson said. “When you look at the research, there’s now a substantial body of evidence finding that consolidation has lead to higher prices without clear effects on quality.”
It’s likely consolidation among hospitals will continue in response to cuts to federal healthcare spending, Levinson said.
Gallagher said the economic pressures facing healthcare did not directly lead to the merger, but he did want to ensure the Endeavor institutions continued to serve its workforce and community for decades to come.
“This is kind of a long-term bet on being able to not just weather some of those pressures, but frankly, be strong and do some things differently that allow us to improve what that care and experience looks like even in light of the environment,” Gallagher said.
The merger will come with a $1 billion investment from Endeavor’s endowment that will fund community programs, innovation along with research and academics at the combined system, Gallagher and Lateef said.
“We know that right now there is a massive health care shortage of providers in this country,” Lateef said. “There are not enough nurses, there are not enough doctors, there are not enough ultrasound techs. We have a health science university and we are committed to increasing our existing workforce, and we’re going to take that money and help grow our existing programs.”
The investment will also be used toward research efforts delving into health equity and neuroscience, Lateef said. Other funds will be used for Rush programs that aim to reduce the life expectancy gap in Chicago.
Bringing together different workplace cultures is one of the biggest risks in mergers, said Lynne Barnes, a clinical professor and program director for the master of health administration at the University of Illinois. But Barnes said she sees an exciting opportunity to bridge the academic side of Rush’s work with the services provided at Endeavor facilities.
“The challenges for the leaders will be a fun one — to knit those two systems together and bring out the best of each of them in the other,” Barnes said. “There’s a lot of opportunity in that merger.”
Mergers are bound to bring changes, and Barnes said it’s important for leaders to make employees feel included in well-planned, communicated changes. Otherwise, leaders risk employees becoming frustrated, she said.
The announcement comes as nurses at Rush and Endeavor in recent months have separately gone public with their efforts to unionize their workplaces, many citing concerns about nurse-to-patient ratios. Just this week, nurses at Edward Hospital in Naperville announced they had filed a petition to hold an election, a step toward unionizing under the umbrella of the National Nurses Organizing Committee.
Nurses at Rush University Medical Center voted earlier this year to form a union under the same umbrella, which is an affiliate of the larger National Nurses United.
In a statement, Brenda Langford, a Stroger Hospital nurse and member of the National Nurses Organizing Committee board of directors, said nurses worry that mergers result in cuts to hospital services and drive up the cost of healthcare.
“Nurses call on state and federal regulators to block any merger that fails to guarantee all services are protected and nurses demand that we have a voice in the future of any merged health system. We know what happens when the state fails to act,” Langford said in the statement, adding that other recent hospital consolidations has lead to cuts to certain medical services.
Nurses at Endeavor hospitals in Evanston, Skokie, Glenbrook and Highland Park have also been organizing under a different union, Teamsters Local 743. In a statement, the union said the proposed merger highlights why nurses need representation.
“During mergers and other workplace changes, workers must have protection and a voice in decisions that affect them because they are the ones who make these health systems successful,” the Teamsters said in the statement.
Lateef said the merger will provide more opportunities for nurses.
“Nurses at Endeavor are vital to our mission; they’re vital to our identity and a critical part of everything that we do,” Gallagher said. “We have been very actively engaged, listening and meeting with our nurses and understanding what’s important to them. And we’ve made very significant investments and we’ll continue to do that as a part of our future both near term and long term.”

Bank of America has hired an army of external contractors to help it patch software vulnerabilities exposed by advanced artificial intelligence models including Anthropic’s Mythos, the bank’s CEO, Brian Moynihan, told CNBC on Wednesday.
In an interview after the bank’s third-quarter earnings release, Moynihan said that earlier this year the company rushed to bolster a wide spectrum of its internal and vendor code using thousands of employees and outside personnel.
“That risk is real risk, and that’s why when the frontier-type models came out. … A lot of us sat down and said, ‘How do we figure out how to get through this quickly?” Moynihan told CNBC’s Leslie Picker.
“We put on 1,000 contractors to help us do the patching work in the second quarter, and those people remain here today, helping us, on top of the 3,000 people we have in that area,” he said.
The bank spent a “couple hundred million plus” on the software remediation and regulatory issues related to anti-money laundering compliance in the third quarter, Moynihan told analysts earlier Wednesday.
The comments are some of the first by a major U.S. corporation to specify the manpower and dollars spent to protect software systems from Mythos, which was released to a small group of banks, technology firms and government agencies in April.
They also highlight the dual-edged nature of AI: While it can help companies save money by boosting productivity, the ability of models like Mythos to uncover and exploit decades-old software flaws has also forced firms into a costly defensive scramble.
“We’ve got to stay ahead of them, and we’ve got to be mindful that the people doing the software development are the people trying to sell us the services,” Moynihan said.
Still, Moynihan — speaking as his company’s shares slumped as much as 8% Wednesday — sought to reassure investors that the spending increase was temporary.
“Once you patch, you don’t have to patch as much. … The pipeline moves through,” Moynihan said, adding that the bank expects remediation costs to decline over time.
In other places, AI is helping to reduce expenses. Bank of America has about 130 internal AI projects, and savings from those efforts are expected to rise from $300 million this year to $700 million in 2027, Moynihan told analysts.
Bank of America’s head count fell by about 3,400 employees in the past year as the firm cut roughly 5% of managers, he said. It’s unclear how much of that workforce reduction is attributable to AI.

Democrats lambasted President Donald Trump while the White House spoke of economic growth following the release of a new Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on Wednesday as Americans continue to suffer the economic consequences of inflation amid the 2026 midterm election cycle.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics noted that “The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September after rising 0.4 percent in August.”
“Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.7 percent before seasonal adjustment,” it stated.
The House Democratic Caucus declared in a post on X, “Trump promised to lower costs and end inflation on day one. The exact opposite has happened. This president has been a total failure.”
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., similarly declared, “Inflation is up. The cost of gas and groceries is soaring. Inland Empire families are paying more for everything. This Trump economy has been a total failure.”
And House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said in a post on X, “The GOP economy is a failure. Inflation remains too high, as families struggle to afford the basics. House Democrats are ready to win in November and stop this mess.”
CONSUMER INFLATION ROSE FASTER THAN EXPECTED IN SEPTEMBER, CPI REPORT SHOWS
The latest CPI report comes less than a month before Election Day, as the Republican and Democratic Parties jockey for control of the House and Senate during midterms.
The GOP currently holds the majority in both chambers, but Democrats are aiming to change that.
A White House official indicated to Fox News Digital that “President Trump is bringing inflation down after it was astronomically high under Biden” and noted that “food prices remain stable, unchanged, month-over-month.”
The CPI report states that “the food index was unchanged in September after rising 0.1 percent in each of the preceding 2 months.”
SCHUMER WARNS OF REPUBLICAN ADVANTAGE THAT COULD CHANGE THE BATTLE FOR SENATE CONTROL
Other Democrats faulting Trump included Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served in the post under President Joe Biden.
“Donald Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ means never ending, higher prices for the American people while he gets a ballroom and billionaires get tax cuts,” Schumer said in a post on X.
“Inflation is up again. Not because of a pandemic. Not because of a natural disaster. Because of Trump’s war, tariffs, and corporate tax breaks. It really is this simple: Republicans took over, and then drove up the cost of living in America,” Buttigieg said.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Matthew Middleton said, “President Trump has implemented an aggressive, pro-growth economic agenda that has blunted Biden’s inflation crisis, driven economic growth, increased wages and created private-sector jobs in areas that had been hollowed out and shipped overseas.
“The President has always been clear about temporary disruptions as a result of the Iran conflict, but this administration will continue to deliver economic wins for the American people over the next two years.
US ECONOMY GREW AT A FASTER PACE THAN EXPECTED IN SECOND QUARTER
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“While Democrats pretend to care about ‘affordability’ this administration has delivered tangible wins to make life more affordable for American families: President Trump signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, cut the cost of prescription drugs, added more than one million private-sector jobs, locked in nearly 20 trade deals and will continue to put American workers first,” Middleton added.

An attorney for Lisa Cook voiced strong doubts that President Donald Trump’s committee investigating mortgage fraud allegations against the Federal Reserve governor would be fair and objective.
The lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the committee is plagued by issues that undermine the appearance of the Fed’s independence, including “demonstrably biased members” and “unspecified additional allegations” against Cook.
Those and other issues “would have to be addressed before a hearing could occur” in the probe, Lowell wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to Will Scharf, Trump’s aide and counsel.
No such hearing could take place until at least December, weeks later than the initially scheduled date, Lowell insisted.
The letter came three days after Trump slammed Cook as “dishonest” and griped that she was an “automatic no vote” — apparently referring to her opposition to cutting interest rates, which the president strongly desires.
Cook last voted to cut rates in December 2025, siding with the majority. The Fed unanimously voted to raise rates after its most recent meeting in September.
“She shouldn’t be in an important position,” Trump said of Cook in those remarks to reporters after returning from a rally in Tennessee on Saturday.
White House spokesman Matthew Middleton said in response to Lowell’s letter that Trump “is performing his constitutional duty in evaluating Lisa Cook’s conduct and eligibility to continue serving as a governor on the Federal Reserve.”
“The Constitution charges the President with ensuring that the laws are faithfully executed and that the conduct of members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is above reproach,” Middleton said in a statement.
An in-person hearing at the White House is currently scheduled for Nov. 5, according to Trump’s Oct. 7 presidential memo establishing the “committee of inquiry” into Cook.
Cook’s lawyers did not immediately rule out participating in that hearing, and in fact said the Fed governor “welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name,” despite their concerns.
But in Tuesday’s letter, Lowell said Cook cannot attend a hearing on Nov. 5 because she “will be executing her official duties as Governor at financial and monetary policy meetings in Europe.”
After that, Cook will immediately start preparing for the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee in early December, Lowell said.
The White House did not immediately respond when asked by CNBC if the scheduled hearing would be moved in light of Cook’s alleged scheduling conflicts.
Lowell also said he needs time to speak with Cook about issues raised by the White House’s most recent correspondence, as well as to prepare her for any possible hearing, “which, because of her being in Asia on Federal Reserve duties, cannot be done until she returns.”
“With all of that (and court hearings I have scheduled in November), the earliest date for any hearing would need to be in December following the FOMC meeting,” Lowell wrote Scharf.
Trump established the three-member committee two months after reviving his long-running effort to fire Cook, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, from the central bank’s board of governors.
The Supreme Court in late June blocked Trump’s first attempt to remove Cook, ruling that she was not given sufficient due process under federal law. But that decision did not stop Trump from trying again.
Middleton said in his statement, “The President is going beyond what the Supreme Court required by offering Lisa Cook an in-person hearing that will be conducted in a fair and open process.”
But Lowell wrote Tuesday, “We have significant concerns regarding the objectivity and fitness of the committee,” which comprises three executive branch officials, including top Trump economic aide Kevin Hassett.
Hassett “already has publicly insinuated that the President has ’cause’ to fire Governor Cook,” Lowell noted, citing the economic advisor’s comments from August 2025.
Hassett in those remarks also accused Cook of “making a partisan stance contrary to the independence of the Fed” by refusing to step aside while a Justice Department investigation played out into the mortgage fraud allegations, which Cook denies.
The comments suggest Hassett has already prejudged the case, Lowell told Scharf, “surely belying your assertion that the ‘hearing’ as proposed would be ‘substantive and fair.'”
“A hearing with demonstrably biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear schedule for the disclosure of any additional evidence – with no explanation for why it was not previously produced – is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence,” Lowell wrote.

Netflix’s layoffs have hit several executives on its TV development and production side — including longtime staffer Carolina Garcia, who has been let go as director of original series after a decade with the streamer.
Other execs in TV that are departing include Lisa Lang McMullen (director, overall deals, series), Andrew McQuinn (director, original series), James Oh (director, original drama series) and Jason Pan (manager, original series creative development).
Also hit hard were Netflix’s publicity and awards teams. Among the major exits are Kelly Caton, the senior director of series awards strategy and publicity, and director of entertainment communications Dominic Pagone. It’s understood that a large chunk of awards team jobs have been eliminated. Caton had been with Netflix since 2017, while Pagone joined in 2024.
As Netflix lays off around 1,000 employees, around 6% of its workforce, the streamer’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said the largest impact would hit its product, technology, legal and HR teams. But programming wasn’t immune to the cuts — the largest name likely coming from the film side, where film VP Doug Belgrad has been let go.
Garcia had been with Netflix as director of original series since 2016. Before that, she worked at 20th Century Fox TV (where she started her career as senior executive assistant to Dana Walden). At Netflix, she oversaw deals with creators like The Duffer Brothers, Brian Yorkey, Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions, Archewell, Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps, Mara Brock Akil and Marti Noxon, and oversaw shows such as “Stranger Things,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “Atypical.”
Lang McMullen joined Netflix in 2021 as director, drama series development, and was promoted to her most recent role in 2023. Before that, she spent 11 years at Walt Disney Television, including as vice president of creative at ABC Signature Studios. She also worked at Warner Bros. TV for six years as VP of comedy development.
McQuinn had been with Netflix since 2018, working on series including “Griselda,” “American Primeval,” “The Residence,” “Zero Day” and “Vikings: Valhalla.” Before Netflix, he was with ABC Signature.
Oh joined Netflix in 2021; his resume also includes stints as senior VP of Jerry Bruckheimer TV for five years, as well as an 18-year tenure at Fox, where he was senior VP of drama development and series.
Pan had been with Netflix for seven years, since 2019, when he joined as creative assistant in original series creative development; he was promoted in 2021. His previous gigs included WME, Amazon Studios and Atomic Monster.
Netflix declined to comment on the departures.