7/14/2008 - Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (ENH) and the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine have agreed on an academic affiliation that will place medical students, residents and fellows from the University of Chicago Medical Center at the three ENH hospital locations in Evanston, Glenbrook and Highland Park for a portion of their educational experience.

The Pritzker School of Medicine is one of the most selective medical schools in the United States, with a long tradition of close interaction between students and their mentors, the full-time medical school faculty. Although students and residents participate in several small programs for clinical training off-campus, the majority of medical student training has always been centered at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC). That will not change. 

This new affiliation, however, will make the ENH hospital locations the primary off-site learning environment for Pritzker students and residents. 

Leaders at both organizations believe the fit is a natural, bringing together Pritzker, one of the premiere medical schools in the country, with ENH, one of the nation's leading teaching hospitals. Both share a commitment to the highest levels of patient care and medical research, yet they expose students and residents to different patient populations, operational systems, and an urban-academic-medical-center vs. suburban-community-teaching-hospital patient care setting.

"With an abundance of combined yet very different experiences and a shared commitment to medical education, clinical investigation, and the effort to connect patients to the very best treatments, ENH and the University of Chicago Medical Center will usher in a new generation of healthcare on the North Shore and beyond," said Mark R. Neaman, ENH President and Chief Executive Officer.

"The partnership takes our medical school, one with a top national reputation and highly ranked programs, and makes the educational experience that much stronger," said James L. Madara, MD, Dean of the Biological Sciences and the Pritzker School of Medicine and CEO of the University of Chicago Medical Center. "Both organizations have many similarities across their missions of teaching and research. But we also have a variety of differences in our enterprise strategies that actually complement rather than compete with one another."

The ENH system is one of the most fully integrated, multi-hospital, research and primary care organizations serving northern Illinois. ENH has an established reputation for its emphasis on advanced information technology and the highest quality of health care. UCMC, meanwhile, has a sharp focus on complex care and biomedical science, with many distinguished programs that draw patients from around the country.

The affiliation became effective July 1, 2008, and includes a one-year transition period. In July 2009, medical students and residents from Pritzker-sponsored training programs will begin to gain clinical experience at ENH, working closely with physicians who are part of the ENH-based faculty.

"Health care takes place in a variety of different settings," said Holly J. Humphrey, MD, Dean for Medical Education at the University of Chicago. "Medical schools achieve a diversity of settings by linking up with affiliates, in addition to their own teaching hospitals, to give students a richer variety of patient care experiences. That kind of broad educational exposure is incredibly robust."

"One of the most important elements is the quality and excellence of the physician faculty," she added, "and ENH's physician faculty are among the very best in the country."

The ENH-UCMC affiliation will create opportunities for collaborative research projects that take advantage of each institution’s respective strengths, particularly in the areas of clinical outcomes, clinical trials, oncology and imaging.

ENH and UCMC also intend to mirror efforts in community service.  UCMC has a longstanding, deeply-rooted commitment to its community on the South Side. Already among the leading providers of Medicaid in Illinois, the Medical Center recently stepped up its efforts to increase physician access for area residents. It recently embarked on a model for delivering community health, the Urban Health Initiative.  That effort represents a collaboration with multiple South Side hospitals and clinics, forming a coordinated network of care so that patients are appropriately seen in the least invasive and least costly setting for their maximum benefit. 

"Similarly, as part of this new affiliation agreement," said Neaman, "ENH will oversee an expanding program to establish a health initiative in Lake County, IL, that parallels UCMC's efforts on the South Side of Chicago, in order to improve access to quality health care in underserved areas."

ENH serves a patient base from dozens of communities. It is recognized as a leader in implementing information technology to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Hospitals and Health Networks magazine has named ENH one of the "Most Wired" healthcare organizations in the nation. ENH is also the top 5 percent of all institutions that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health and among multi-specialty independent research hospitals, it ranks 9th in the nation.

The University of Chicago Medical Center is in the top one percent of all institutions that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health and is fifth in the nation in NIH grants per faculty member. UCMC serves a diverse patient population. It has made a substantial and increasing commitment to providing care for underserved populations on the South Side of Chicago, establishing a series of partnerships with other South Side institutions to improve health and access to health care.

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Contact: Amy Ferguson 847.570.3146 or aferguson@enh.org