Transactions & Valuation Issues

Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Fargo, N.D.-based Sanford Health have entered exploratory merger discussions, potentially creating one of the largest non-profit health systems in the upper Midwest.

Over the past couple decades, consolidation has become one of the most highly discussed business strategies in almost every industry — and with it, there have been varying results.

In an effort to better integrate the system, Mayo Clinic announced its two main Rochester, Minn.-based hospitals, Saint Marys Hospital and Methodist Hospital, will become a single licensed hospital and operate under the name Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester.

Ocala, Fla.-based Munroe Regional Medical Center is considering two 40-year lease agreements with Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates and Brentwood, Tenn.-based Duke LifePoint, both for-profit hospital chains.

It's no secret that hospitals have been getting much friendlier with one another lately.

The following hospital mergers, acquisitions and general transaction news took place within the past week, beginning with the most recent.

Officials finalized an asset purchase agreement between Scott County (Tenn.) Hospital and Pioneer Health Services, a critical access hospital chain based in Magee, Miss., according to a report by the Independent Herald.

A letter of intent to affiliate Medford, Ore.- based Asante and Ashland (Ore.) Community Hospital was unanimously approved by the Ashland City Council, paving the way for a planned merger.

In 2011, the hospital market saw more significant growth in mergers and acquisitions, culminating a five-year trend of increased activity, according to a report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Providence, R.I.-based CharterCare Health Partners, the parent organization of two Rhode Island hospitals, will soon become part of a health system all the way across the country, as it has signed a letter of intent to merge with Santa Ana,…