Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare and Evergreen Park, Ill.-based Little Company of Mary Hospital and Health Centers are negotiating a full merger, according to a July 17 announcement.

The total number of hospital and health systems transactions dropped to 19 in the second quarter of 2019, but the size of the mergers and acquisitions increased, according to a recent analysis by strategic and financial consulting firm Kaufman, Hall & Associates.

Care New England Health System, a three-hospital system based in Providence, R.I., announced July 16 that its board voted to withdraw from merger talks with Lifespan and Brown University, both in Providence.

Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health said advice from a consulting organization influenced their decision to merge, according to the Times-Republican.

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has added Saudi German Hospital Cairo in Egypt to the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a select group of independent health systems that have access to Mayo Clinic's knowledge and medical expertise.

The total number of healthcare mergers and acquisitions hit a record high in 2018, and dozens of deals have been announced so far this year.

Aspirus, a rural health system in Wausau, Wis., signed a letter of intent with Divine Savior Healthcare in Portage, Wis., the organizations announced July 10.

Berkeley Research Group has closed a deal to acquire the equity ownership of Chicago-based Prism Healthcare Partners.

A report in The Wall Street Journal discusses the strategy used by Amazon's internal business development team — a team that has closed $20 billion in deals since January 2017.

Milwaukee and Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Aurora Health signed a deal with One Medical, a membership-based primary care network, to become its "preferred health system partner" in Illinois and open new clinics in the area.

Beaumont Health, an eight-hospital system based in Southfield, Mich., has signed a letter of intent to acquire Summa Health, a four-hospital system based in Akron, Ohio.

Sound Physicians, a national healthcare organization providing hospital medicine, emergency medicine, critical care, population health, telemedicine, and physician advisory services, acquired iNDIGO Health Partners, a leading provider of hospitalist, telemedicine, and post-acute services in Michigan.

AHMC Healthcare, a Southern California-based integrated health system, is the new owner of Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center in Riverside, Calif.

Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health has completed its merger with Bon Secours Health System in Dublin, Ireland's largest private healthcare provider, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker's.

Stony Brook (N.Y.) Medicine completed its acquisition of 90-bed Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, N.Y., July 1. 

U.S. health systems are looking for ways to improve the overall health of the communities they serve while cutting costs. One popular trend in healthcare to handle these seemingly competing interests is to invest in a network of primary care, urgent care or other express care sites.

South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., is working to negotiate a deal to join Wellforce, the health system that owns three hospital networks in Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe.

The Louisville, Ky., medical community believes chances of survival look grim for the local 462-bed Jewish Hospital, according to a report from Louisville Courier Journal.

Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health and Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, received a key legislative win in their proposed merger, according to Mainebiz.

The total number of healthcare mergers and acquisitions hit a record high in 2018, and dozens of deals have been announced so far this year.