A message from President Wente

Dear Wake Forest colleagues, 

I am pleased to share Atrium Health’s announcement of an exciting plan to join together with Advocate Aurora Health, a leading healthcare organization based in Chicago and Milwaukee. The headquarters for the new entity, to be named Advocate Health, will be in Charlotte. The Atrium Health and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist names will continue in our respective local areas. In a dynamic healthcare and academic medical center landscape, the complementary and unique strengths of both organizations position the new entity to be even stronger. 

Importantly, the role of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (WFBMC) and Wake Forest University School of Medicine as the academic core of Atrium Health will be expanded to serve the new Advocate Health entity. 

This combination of two leading healthcare organizations will create even more opportunities for Wake Forest University School of Medicine to lead in academic research and education missions. Through access to an expansive clinical network, we will have a greater impact on training the next generation of physicians and healthcare workers, and be positioned to accelerate translational research, health equity, learning and discovery.

This is a monumental moment and a new step forward in support of the University’s greater academic mission and we are proud to have such leading-edge partners in WFBMC, Atrium Health and the new Advocate Health. Together we are looking forward to the groundbreaking of our second campus for the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Charlotte later this year, and to all the new possibilities to improve the lives of community members here in Winston-Salem and across the country.

Sincerely,

Susan R. Wente

President