There were 199 mergers and acquisitions in the revenue cycle management and health IT  markets in 2020, according to a new report from an independent investment bank and strategy consultant Greenberg Advisors. 

Machias, Maine-based Down East Community Hospital plans to acquire Calais (Maine) Regional Hospital, the only other hospital in Maine's Washington County, out of bankruptcy, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Two Providence, R.I.-based systems — Lifespan and Care New England Health System — have inked a definitive agreement to merge into a single organization and create an integrated academic health system in partnership with Brown University.

After filing a lawsuit in May to end its affiliation with Renton, Wash.-based Providence, Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., is alleging it is now the target of retaliation, according to the Los Angeles Times.  

Millersburg, Ohio-based Pomerene Hospital entered a management agreement with Aultman Health Foundation, a Canton, Ohio-based organization that runs hospitals and an insurance company, according to a Feb. 17 news release.

Charlottesville, Va.-based UVA Health signed a letter of intent to acquire full ownership of Novant Health UVA Health System, a three-hospital system based in Northern Virginia.

Chillicothe, Ohio-based Adena Health System has finalized an agreement to acquire Fayette County Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Washington Court House, Ohio. 

Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health is in talks to buy Ardent Health Services, a 30-hospital network based in Nashville, Tenn., according to The Wall Street Journal. 

Hospitals and health systems have announced or completed at least 19 merger, acquisition and partnership deals since Jan. 1. 

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers University and West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health have inked a clinical agreement.

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.