Prime Healthcare has agreed to buy a small handful of Ascension Living communities as well as nine hospitals belonging to the larger Ascension health system.

Prime is with the deal picking up four Ascension Living communities for senior living and care residents in Aurora, Joliet, Kankakee and Park Ridge, Illinois. The deal also included nine hospitals in the state. The acquisition is the largest transaction the nonprofit has completed to date, according to a press release about the deal.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the parties involved expect it to close in the first quarter of 2025.

Ascension analyzed Prime Healthcare’s values and ethics as a company before choosing it to take on the company’s Illinois properties. Prime is through the deal planning to invest $250 million to upgrade the newly acquired portfolio, with a primary focus on the hospitals and their technology and systems.

“Prime Healthcare’s Mission and commitment to clinical excellence and health equity will carry on this legacy, ensuring that the greater Chicago area has sustainable, quality healthcare access long into the future,” said Polly Davenport, president and CEO of Ascension Illinois.

The Prime footprint includes 44 hospitals, 300 outpatient locations and around 45,000 employees and physicians. With its latest acquisition, Prime Healthcare is expanding into the Chicago metro area.

“Our agreement with Ascension reflects our decades-long mission of saving, improving and investing in community hospitals and we are excited to bring these Ascension Illinois facilities into our Prime Healthcare family, preserving our shared values and mutual commitment to patient-centered care,” said Sunny Bhatia, president and chief medical officer of Prime Healthcare.

Earlier this month, Ascension announced its newest CEO in Erin Shadbolt. At the time, the organization said it planned to tap her experience “in post-acute care operations, finance, growth, regulatory compliance, quality improvement and strategic planning,” and she had a dual role of vice president of post-acute and at-home services.