The boards of directors and leadership teams at OSF Healthcare System, Rockford Health System and OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center are extremely disappointed with the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to challenge the proposed affiliation between our organizations. Over the past eight months, we fully cooperated with the FTC and worked diligently to outline our case for the affiliation. We hoped that the partnership would move forward early in 2012 and that Rockford region’s health care consumers would begin to see the benefits of the affiliation.

OSF Healthcare System and Rockford Health System are committed to pursuing all legal options available to us and will challenge the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the affiliation. We will reiterate our strong belief that the proposed affiliation is in the best interest of the community because it will enhance our collective efforts to provide a full-range of local, cost effective and high quality health care services to the region.

Despite the FTC’s challenge, we believe combining two of Rockford’s three health care systems into one will continue to promote healthy competition in the marketplace. We have no doubt that this affiliation will create a more viable, sustainable, high quality health care delivery system for the Rockford region. It is unfortunate that we must now proceed through an administrative and judicial review process that could take 24 months or more to complete.

Our initial goals for this affiliation have not changed. But, what continues to change is the health care environment in which we do business. The local economy also continues to struggle. Today, we feel even more strongly that this affiliation is the right thing to do for our community. By combining talents, resources, technology and facilities, we will recruit the best and brightest physicians and professionals, reduce costs, improve efficiencies and most importantly, significantly enhance our clinical offerings and quality outcomes for patients.