Hospitals are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to examine whether recent behavior of nurse-staffing firms and insurance companies is "anticompetitive," while also asking the commission to reconsider its study of mergers between physician groups and healthcare facilities.

Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners is looking to sell its controlling stake in Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, leaving it with $1.3 billion in financial obligations, according to ProPublica. While four states have approved the deal, Rhode Island has not.

Twelve transactions involving hospitals and health systems have been announced, finalized or advanced since Jan. 15:

Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Health System's plan to acquire a 25-bed critical access hospital in Ohio took a step forward this week. 

Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have entered into an affiliation agreement aimed at improving the delivery of pediatric healthcare, according to a Feb. 2 news release. 

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has ended its lease of Northwest Mississippi Medical Center, a 181-bed hospital in Clarksdale. 

The sale of Wilmington, N.C.-based New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health is complete, the organizations said Feb. 1. 

Mercy Medical Center, a 476-bed hospital in Canton, Ohio, officially joined Cleveland Clinic Feb. 1. 

Two Kentucky health systems plan to enter a joint venture agreement to better serve patients in Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia, according to a Jan. 29 trustee approval letter. 

Two Chicago-based health systems, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital and Rush University System for Health, have entered into a clinical affiliation to improve access to pediatric care. 

Perry Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Princeton, Ill., plans to join OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Ill.

Cleveland Clinic has partnered with Doctors Hospital Health System to expand service offerings and improve care quality in the Bahamas. 

Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and Michigan State University in East Lansing signed a 30-year partnership on healthcare, socioeconomic and educational goals, the organizations said Jan. 25.

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems is planning to end its lease of Northwest Mississippi Medical Center, a 181-bed hospital in Clarksdale, according to The Clarksdale Press Register.

St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis, one of the facilities owned by Americore Health when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy 2019, has a new owner and a new name, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.

Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health's plan to acquire three hospitals and a freestanding emergency room in South Carolina is facing a legal challenge that may jeopardize the deal, according to the Post and Courier. 

Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Health System will assume ownership of Keokuk (Iowa) Area Hospital from West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health on March 1. 

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein will not object to Novant Health's $5.3 billion deal to purchase New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C., the office wrote in a letter dated Jan. 21.

Highpoint Health, a single-hospital system in Lawrenceburg, Ind., has joined St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Ky.

Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare plans to acquire Meadows Regional Medical Center in Vidalia, Ga., for $73 million, according to The Advance.