Transactions & Valuation Issues

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has inked a definitive agreement to acquire an 80 percent ownership interest in IU Health La Porte (Ind.) Hospital and Knox, Ind.-based IU Health Starke Hospital. Under the deal, Indianapolis-based Indiana University Health will retain…

Charlevoix (Mich.) Area Hospital has officially merged with Traverse City, Mich.-based Munson Healthcare, according to PetoskeyNews.com.

WellCare requested the Iowa Department of Human Services "maintain the status quo" while a district judge reviews a state arbiter's decision to toss out WellCare's contract bid for Medicaid patients, according to the Sioux City Journal.

Private equity firms have been an active player in healthcare deals this year, with PE buyers announcing 129 transactions so far in 2015, according to a report by Irving Levin Associates.

Boston-based Partners HealthCare and Medford, Mass.-based Hallmark Health System have ended merger talks after putting the deal on hold earlier this year.

Effective Feb. 1, Morehead, N.C.-based Carteret Health Care will be an out-of-network provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina members, according to The Jacksonville Daily News.

The following healthcare mergers, acquisitions and general partnerships took place or were announced in the past week.

Fairbanks (Alaska) Memorial Hospital is looking to cut ties with Banner Health, ending a 15-year affiliation with the Phoenix-based health system, according to a newsminer.com report.

Pittsburgh-based UPMC has signed an affiliation agreement with WCA Hospital in Jamestown, N.Y., marking UPMC's first expansion into New York, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.

At the start of January, Philhaven, a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization based in Gretna, Pa., will officially become part of York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health.