The struggling Presence Health is making a move, merging with AMITA Health. Presence Health is the parent company of Presence St. Mary’s Hospital in Kankakee, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Joliet, and Covenant Hospital in Urbana. AMITA will assume all operational losses. And the hospitals are expected to remain operational.

AMITA will become the largest health care group in the state of Illinois – with 19 hospitals.

A non-binding letter of intent was signed Tuesday. The pending deal means Chicago-based Presence Health is joining Ascension, a St. Louis-based Catholic health care system, to become part of AMITA HEALTH – which is a joint venture of Ascension’s Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health.

AMITA Health operates six acute-care hospitals in the Chicago-land area.

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