HeartCare Midwest is central Illinois' largest cardiology practice consisting of nineteen physicians and more than two hundred nurses, medical technicians, and administrative staff in more than twelve counties throughout the state. Founded in 1994, HeartCare Midwest is the product of a corporate merger between the well-established practices of Cardiovascular Medicine and Illinois Heart Institute. Having more than two hundred years of experience between them, HeartCare Midwest physicians' hold medical and advanced cardiology degrees from such impressive universities as Duke, Harvard, Princeton and the University of California at Los Angles. HeartCare Midwest's affiliations with major medical centers in the area like Saint Francis, Methodist, Proctor and Pekin make the new cardiology practice strategically positioned for growth in the medical industry. HeartCare employs some of the most highly educated and experienced cardiac nurses in the area, allowing the practice to be licensed and certified for specialized techniques usually only available from medical facilities in large metropolitan areas. This analysis will include an extensive evaluation of HeartCare Midwest's goals and objectives before and after the merger. In addition, structure and strategy, its organizational system, and HeartCare's effectiveness after the merger will be examined in detail. Additionally, I will make recommendations on how HeartCare Midwest could improve their organization. Goal's and Objectives Before the merger creating HeartCare Midwest, Cardiovascular Medicine, consisting of thirteen physicians, held close affiliations with Saint Francis Medical Center. In its beginnings, the physicians defining Cardiovascular Medicine were once part of a multi-specialty health care organization, owned by Saint Francis Medical Center, consisting of nephrology, internal medicine and cardiology. Maintaining a close relationship with Saint Francis Medical Center, the cardiologists left
