The first week of May saw two health system mergers finalized — including one nearly a decade in the making — while another deal was called off:
Northwell Health-Nuvance Health
New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health and Danbury, Conn.-based Nuvance Health completed their merger, forming an integrated regional health system that spans from New York City to western Connecticut. The combined system has a $22.6 billion operating budget, 28 hospitals, more than 104,000 employees — including 22,000 nurses and 13,500 providers — as well as over 1,050 ambulatory care sites and 73 urgent care centers.
Northwell President and CEO Michael Dowling told Becker’s that talks with Nuvance began about eight years ago but were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He described Northwell’s core catchment area as encompassing “where people come from to work in Manhattan — Connecticut, upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Staten Island and Long Island.” Expansion efforts are already underway in parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York, with more expected in the coming years.
“Ultimately, we want Northwell to be the most integrated, comprehensive health system across that entire region — offering all services, across all stages of life, for all communities,” he said.
Atlantic General Hospital-TidalHealth
Berlin, Md.-based Atlantic General Hospital finalized its merger with Salisbury, Md.-based TidalHealth on May 1.
The merger provides Atlantic General access to an integrated EHR through Epic and enhance service coordination and care access. It also provides capital funding to expand services and support the hospital’s recruitment and retention efforts.
Atlantic General and TidalHealth will follow a structured integration plan to ensure a smooth transition. No immediate staffing changes are expected. For now, all Atlantic General entities will retain the Atlantic General brand.
Oregon Health & Science University-Legacy Health
Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health, both based in Portland, mutually agreed to terminate their planned merger on May 5.
The systems said after “consideration of the evolving operating environment,” they determined the best way to meet the communities they serve is to “move forward as individual organizations.” Neither system provided additional details on the reasoning behind their decision.
The combined system under OHSU Health would have included 12 hospitals and more than 32,000 employees, and been one of Oregon’s largest service providers to Medicaid members.
OHSU and Legacy announced their plans in August 2023 and in May 2024 signed a definitive agreement to combine their systems. The agreement was inked around the same time that OHSU notified staff of plans to lay off at least 500 employees, citing financial challenges.
