UConn Health is set to close the acquisition of a Connecticut hospital and a prospective buyer has emerged for a Pennsylvania hospital slated for closure.
Here are three hospital M&A moves that Becker’s reported during the week of Feb. 23:
1. Erie, Pa.-based Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine is in discussion to acquire Bradford (Pa.) Regional Medical Center from Buffalo, N.Y.-based Kaleida Health.
Under the proposed acquisition, LECOM would assume ownership and operational responsibility for the Bradford Regional Medical Center campus, as well as the Pavilion, a 95-bed skilled nursing facility. The negotiations have paused Kaleida’s plans to close the skilled nursing facility and relocate its more than 50 residents. Kaleida, however, said it will continue with plans to close Bradford Regional’s inpatient unit and emergency department.
2. Wheeling, W.Va.-based Orchard Park Hospital, a 30-bed inpatient pediatric psychiatric hospital, signed a letter of intent to merge with WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital.
As part of the merger, Wheeling Hospital will work collaboratively with WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s and the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute to ensure Orchard Park continues to provide pediatric and adolescent mental healthcare services. Orchard Park Hospital is located across the street from Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Medicine’s planned $122.6 million outpatient cancer center, which is slated to open in October 2028. The upcoming merger will begin to create a larger downtown Wheeling campus.
3. Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health will complete its acquisition of Waterbury (Conn.) Hospital from bankrupt Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings on March 1.
The closing of the deal comes after UConn Health received emergency certificate-of-need application approval from Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy on Jan. 30. Under the approval, the health system must maintain or improve existing services for at least three years, engage with the community in health planning efforts, and provide an assessment of Waterbury Hospital and its operations, including a strategic integration plan, within nine months.
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