Financial pressures have forced many community hospitals to shut down departments, lay off employees or close services, which forces patients to travel further distances to regional centers — often academic centers — which have become overcrowded. Many of these hospitals also also need to undergo infrastructure improvements and digital transformation, both of which are expensive.
In addition to maintaining access to care in local communities, acquiring community hospitals offers various other benefits to academic health systems, including:
- Reducing the academic medical center’s total cost of care by treating lower-acuity patients in a lower-cost community hospital setting.
- Enhanced reimbursement opportunities if the acquired facilities are designated as a critical access hospital or rural emergency hospital.
- Improving access to the academic medical center’s services, expanding its clinicians and branding into new markets and boosting capacity at the main campus for higher-acuity care.
- Advancing the quality and scope of care at community hospitals by implementing care design protocols and other best practices to community hospital partners.
- Providing a talent pipeline for physician recruitment and residency programs in community hospital settings.
Here are 22 academic health system transactions that have been announced or completed in 2025:
Note: This is not a comprehensive list.
1. Tallahassee-based Florida State University and the City of Tallahassee have agreed on a proposed memorandum of understanding that would convert a city‑owned hospital into a full academic medical center under the FSU Health umbrella. The City Commission is set to vote on the MOU at its Jan. 14, 2026, meeting. Under the proposed agreement, all city‑owned hospital assets currently leased to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare would ultimately transfer to FSU, paving the way for integration with FSU Health.
2. Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health, in partnership with the state, plans to invest around $250 million over the next five years in Waterbury (Conn.) Hospital. UConn Health received approval from the state to buy Waterbury Hospital, part of Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings, in mid-November after UConn submitted a $13 million bid to take it over.
3. Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth on Dec. 1 acquired Estes Park (Colo.) Health, which has rebranded as UCHealth Estes Valley Medical Center. A new board of directors will oversee responsibilities at the hospital. UCHealth will dedicate at least $20 million for maintenance and capital projects at EVMC over the next 10 years and assume $10 million of the facility’s long-term debt.
4. Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Health System plans to acquire Greensburg, Pa.-based Independence Health System, a five-hospital system. The transaction is expected to close in fall 2026 and would see WVU Medicine increase its hospital footprint in Pennsylvania from one to six. The health system currently operates 25 hospitals across West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
5. Tampa, Fla.-based Tampa General Hospital plans to assume operations of DeSoto Memorial Hospital, a 49-bed facility in Arcadia, Fla. The agreement, which was approved by the DeSoto Memorial board on Nov. 10, includes a commitment by Tampa General to invest at least $45 million in the rural hospital. The lease is set for 49 years at $10 per year and includes an option to buy.
6. Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center has signed a definitive agreement to buy Community Health System’s 80% ownership interest in two joint ventures that own and operate Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville (Tenn.). The $600 million deal, announced Oct. 30, includes the 270-bed hospital in Clarksville and ancillary businesses. The transaction is a continuation of Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS’ divestiture strategy aimed at reshaping its portfolio and reducing debt.
7. Portland-based MaineHealth plans to acquire York Hospital, a 79-bed independent facility. Rising labor costs, escalating pharmaceutical and supply expenses, and increasing payer denials have forced the independent hospital to seek a health system partner.
8. New York City-based Montefiore Health System and Garnet Health have signed a letter of intent for Garnet to join the academic health system through a strategic affiliation. Garnet Health, a three-hospital system headquartered in Middletown, N.Y., serves more than 500,000 residents across New York’s mid-Hudson and Catskills regions. Montefiore operates 10 hospitals and more than 200 outpatient sites.
9. Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare plans to acquire Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital in Vernon, Conn. The hospitals are currently owned by Los Angeles-based for-profit Prospect Medical Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy in January.
10. Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Health Network plans to acquire Heritage Valley Beaver and Heritage Valley Sewickley, which would become the 15th and 16th hospitals in the health system’s network. As part of the affiliation, AHN will become the sole corporate member of Heritage Valley. Over the next decade, both systems will make investments to improve community health through facility upgrades, enhanced services and upgraded IT infrastructure.
11. Pittsburgh-based UPMC signed a nonbinding letter of intent seeking to acquire Steubenville, Ohio-based Trinity Health System, which would mark the health system’s entrance into Ohio. Trinity, a three-hospital health system, is currently owned by Chicago-based CommonSpirit.
12. Madison, Wis.-based UW Health and Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Region of Sanford Health are in talks concerning Marshfield Medical Center-Beaver Dam (Wis.) and its associated clinics and healthcare facilities joining UW Health. Marshfield Medical Center-Beaver Dam is a 60-bed acute care hospital that joined Marshfield Clinic Health System in 2019.
13. Valhalla, N.Y.-based Westchester Medical Center Health Network and Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health have agreed to end their joint venture partnership involving Bon Secours Charity Health System. Under the agreement, WMCHealth will assume full ownership and operational control of multiple nursing home facilities and the three Bon Secours Mercy Health hospitals in its western region:
- Good Samaritan Hospital (Suffern, N.Y.)
- Bon Secours Community Hospital (Port Jervis, N.Y.)
- St. Anthony Community Hospital (Warwick, N.Y)
14. Littleton (N.H.) Regional Healthcare, a 25-bed critical access hospital, signed a letter of intent on Sept. 12 with Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health to become a member of the system. Last year, Dartmouth Health also added Claremont, N.H.-based Valley Regional Hospital, a 25-bed facility, to its network.
15. Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health is moving closer to acquiring majority ownership of Georgetown, S.C.-based Tidelands Health. Under the agreement, the Medical University Hospital Authority will acquire a majority membership interest in Tidelands Health, deepening integration of services, technology and clinical expertise. The proposed deal cleared several regulatory hurdles in August, receiving approvals from the Joint Bond Review Committee, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority and both systems’ boards.
16. Philadelphia-based Temple Health in August acquired Redeemer Health’s 20% stake in Chestnut Hill Hospital, giving the academic system an 80% ownership interest in the hospital. With the transaction, Redeemer has exited the alliance, while the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine retains a 20% ownership stake in the 148-bed hospital.
17. Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network acquired Sellersville, Pa.-based Grand View Health in July. Grand View is St. Luke’s 16th campus.
18. In June, Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center acquired Merit Health Madison, a 67-bed facility in Canton, Miss. The acquisition builds on a business relationship that began in 2019, when UMMC physicians started performing procedures at the hospital. UMMC bought the hospital from CHS.
19. Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania Health System in April acquired Doylestown (Pa.) Health. The acquisition of the 245-bed teaching hospital, Doylestown Hospital, transforms Penn Medicine into a seven-hospital system.
20. In April, Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System acquired Lake Norman Regional Medical Center, a 123-bed hospital in Mooresville, N.C., from CHS for $284 million.
21. New York City-based NYU Langone Health acquired Patchogue, N.Y.-based Long Island Community Hospital in March 2025. The 306-bed hospital is NYU Langone’s seventh inpatient facility and is now known as NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk.
22. San Antonio-based University Health plans to purchase Christus Santa Rosa Hospital-Medical Center, which closed earlier this year from Irving, Texas-based Christus Health. University Health is undergoing a $1.5 billion expansion and plans to buy the hospital for $71 million.
