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7 hospital mergers called off in past year

Last month, Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health and Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System called of their merger, which would have resulted in a 68-hospital system. That is one of several hospital mergers that, at some point in their lifetime, were called off in the past year.

Seven hospital mergers called off since March 2018, beginning with the most recent:

1. Centura Health, Community Hospital call off merger talks
Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., and Centura Health in Centennial, Colo., discontinued merger discussion in March, roughly four months after signing a letter of intent to combine their organizations. Although the organizations ended formal merger discussions, they remain open to exploring ways to partner in the future.

2. Illinois hospitals end merger talks
Iroquois Memorial Hospital in Watseka, Ill., and Riverside Healthcare in Kankakee, Ill., ended merger discussions in February. However, officials said they would continue to collaborate on ways to best serve patients in Iroquois County.

3. Baylor Scott & White, Memorial Hermann end merger talks
Baylor Scott & White Health and Memorial Hermann Health System decided to discontinue merger discussions in February, roughly four months after signing a letter of intent to combine their organizations. Baylor Scott & White and Memorial Hermann did not cite a specific reason for ending merger talks. "Ultimately, we have concluded that as strong, successful organizations, we are capable of achieving our visions for the future without merging at this time," the systems said in a joint statement.

4. Maryland hospitals call off merger negotiations
Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health and Elkton, Md.-based Union Hospital of Cecil County ended merger negotiations in December 2018. Uncertainty about Union Hospital's future revenue under Maryland's hospital reimbursement system was the primary reason merger talks ended.

5. Cone Health, Randolph Health merger is off
Asheboro, N.C.-based Randolph Health and Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health ended their merger plans in May 2018. "This was a difficult decision, but one that we believe to be in the best long-term interests of Cone Health," Cone Health CEO Terry Akin said in a press release issued May 31. "After much consideration, we found that combining our organizations would require that many current and future Cone Health priorities and projects would need to be scaled back or put on hold. Cone Health's overall strategic commitments and our current competitive environment do not give us the latitude to move forward with Randolph health at the present time."

6. Rush axes merger with 272-bed Chicago hospital
Rush, an academic health system in Chicago, and Evergreen Park, Ill.-based Littler Company of Mary Hospital and Health Care Centers canceled their merger plan in April 2018. The organizations mutually agreed to back out of the nonbinding agreement they entered into in October 2017.

7. Atrium Health suspends merger negotiations with UNC Health Care
Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health and Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care suspended merger discussions in March 2018. "We have agreed that the best path forward for both organizations is to identify specific opportunities to work together, as we have previously, to improve healthcare across the state and region," UNC Health Care said in a statement to Becker's Hospital Review on March 2, 2018. "Though we will not form a joint operating company, UNC Health Care and Atrium Health will continue to partner on important issues such as improving rural health care and expanding medical education."

More articles on healthcare industry transactions:

Rennova acquires Tennessee hospital
Bankrupt California hospital chain closes $235M sale
CHS sells 4 South Carolina hospitals for $176M

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