The Wake County (N.C.) board of commissioners voted 5-2 on Sept. 21 to approve the proposed combination of Raleigh, N.C.-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals and Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health, according to a joint news release shared with Becker’s.
The proposed merger now moves to a regulatory review process, but has drawn scrutiny from both Wake County leaders and state officials over competition, governance and healthcare costs.
WakeMed and Atrium shared plans in early May to combine into a single health system, which involves a $2 billion investment from Atrium Health into WakeMed to help expand facilities, technology, workforce and broaden care access across North Carolina.
In late May, WakeMed said it planned to stick with Atrium after it received an unsolicited partnership proposal from Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health earlier that month.
The merger also includes a $150 million Wake County Whole Health Program, a long-term investment into the community’s well-being that aims to address needs outside of the hospitals and physician practices.
The amended transfer agreement features a strengthened commitment to charity care that establishes a higher minimum threshold for providing care to patients in need. It also provides additional assurance around existing support to ensure care access regardless of ability to pay, the release said.
“This combination will expand access to affordable, nationally leading care, strengthen mental health and other critical services, grow local jobs, increase investment in nonprofit and community-based organizations, address social drivers of health, catalyze innovation and improve the health and well-being of Wake County for generations to come,” the release said.
Atrium Health, part of Charlotte-based Advocate Health, has a statewide network of 19 hospitals and more than 1,060 care locations.
WakeMed is a nonprofit health system that comprises three full-service hospitals, a mental health and well-being hospital, eight emergency departments, a dedicated Children’s Hospital and Rehabilitation Hospital and two trauma centers. The system has more than 175 physician and physical therapy practice offices, more than 12,800 employees, 1,300 volunteers, 1,300 affiliated physicians and a network of more than 900 primary care and specialty providers with WakeMed Physician Practices.
