The board for Desert Healthcare District and Foundation is working to "clarify and refine some language" around a noncompete clause in its hospital lease purchase agreement with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, according to a June 21 release shared with Becker's.

Cross-market mergers and acquisitions are becoming more prominent as health systems diversify their portfolios, strengthen bargaining power and pursue further economies of scale amid challenging financial headwinds.

Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health plans to enter a new state by acquiring Blount Memorial Hospital, a 304-bed community hospital in Maryville, Tenn.

Boston-based Arches Medical Partners'  physician group will leave CharterCare Provider Group, part of Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holding, and partner with Integra Community Care Network, part of Providence, R.I.-based Care New England Health System, according to a July 18 news release shared with Becker's. Arches medical group will bring nine locations and 40 primary care providers under Integra.

A bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would allow for new physician-owned hospitals.

Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System plans to form a joint venture with Premier Health Associates, a multispecialty group focusing on primary care across 16 locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The planned merger between Cincinnati-based grocery store chain Kroger and Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons will not interfere with pharmacy and healthcare service operations at the 579 stores the companies plan to sell to Keene, N.H.-based C&S Wholesale Grocers. 

Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System have signed a nonbinding agreement to merge into a 56-hospital system with more than 56,000 employees, including 4,300 providers. 

OhioHealth, based in Columbus, signed an agreement to sell certain assets of its outreach laboratory services business to Quest Diagnostics.

WellSpan Health has added 131-bed Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, Pa., to its network.

Two rival hospitals in Terre Haute, Ind., seeking to merge are the first to test the state's certificate of public advantage (COPA) law, The Washington Post reported July 3. 

While other publicly traded, for-profit health systems have reduced their hospital portfolios in recent years, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA has grown.

UCSF Health and California Attorney General Rob Bonta have signed a cooperative settlement agreement to preserve key services and clear the way for the health system's $100 million acquisition of two San Francisco hospitals. 

The proposed acquisition of Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health by Health Assurance Transformation Corp., or HATCo, is making progress, The Alliance Review reported July 2. 

Kittanning, Pa.-based Armstrong County Memorial Hospital is officially affiliated with Pennsylvania Mountain Care Network.

Liberty (Mo.) Hospital on July 1 officially joined the Kansas City-based University of Kansas Health System. 

Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu called Novant Health's decision to call off its plan to acquire two hospitals from Community Health Systems "a win for consumers."

Catholic Medical Center, a 330-bed regional health system in Manchester, N.H., is pursuing a deal to join HCA Healthcare. 

Bowling Green, Ky.-based Med Center Health has acquired Logan Memorial Hospital in Russellville, Ky., making it the health system's seventh hospital. 

Morehead, Ky.-based St. Claire HealthCare has officially joined Lexington-based UK HealthCare, part of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.