A nurses union is urging regulators to block the proposed Rush-Endeavor Health merger unless the deal guarantees staffing levels and service protections.
Elmhurst Hospital, one of nine Endeavor Health hospitals that would join the 12-hospital system under the Rush name, is directly affected by the demand. The National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), which represents more than 9,000 nurses in the Chicago area, issued the call in a statement first reported by Shaw Local News Network on Oct. 15.
The union's opposition adds a new layer to a merger we reported on Oct. 15, when the $1 billion investment pledge and Rush rebranding were announced.
Brenda Langford, a registered nurse at Stroger Hospital in Chicago and a member of the NNOC board of directors, cited what happened after Prime Healthcare acquired eight Ascension Illinois hospitals in 2025. She said Prime has closed at least nine departments, including ending obstetrics care at four hospitals that predominantly serve low-income communities of color, according to Shaw Local.
"It's vital that Rush and Endeavor are not given a green light to do the same," Langford said in the statement.
Langford said the union's board wants regulators to ensure the merger does not reduce staffing or cut health services at any of the combined system's hospitals.
The merger, announced Oct. 14, would combine Endeavor's nine hospitals with Rush's three, creating a system serving more than 2 million patients with more than 46,000 employees, according to Endeavor Health's announcement.
Endeavor is committing $1 billion from its endowment to the combined system, including $300 million to reduce healthcare disparities and $200 million for care quality.
The deal requires state and federal regulatory approval and is targeted to close in early 2027. The Chicago Tribune reported that regulators may examine whether the merger would reduce competition and increase prices.
A spokesperson for the two health systems told Shaw Local that the merger aims to connect providers across a larger geographic area, expanding patient access to specialty care, medical research and clinical trials. The spokesperson said the approach would require more healthcare workers, not fewer.
The union's intervention comes amid broader labor organizing across both systems. Nurses at Endeavor's Edward Hospital in Naperville filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Oct. 8 to hold a union election, according to Shaw Local. The NNOC supported 1,200 Edward nurses in that effort, Langford said. Nurses at Rush University Medical Center voted in May to form a union under the same umbrella, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Nurses at four other Endeavor hospitals have been organizing under Teamsters Local 743, according to the Sun-Times.
Elmhurst Hospital, meanwhile, is in the middle of its own expansion. The hospital opened a 16-bed patient observation unit in July, the first completed project in a broader campus buildout during its centennial year. Future phases include a two-story addition above the Nancy Knowles Cancer Center and a new medical office building.
The merger announcement did not address how the Rush rebranding would affect those projects. Endeavor Health has not publicly responded to the Edward Hospital union petition.
