Morgantown, W.Va.-based Monongalia Health System is one step closer to completely absorbing Davis Health System after the two parties signed a definitive agreement to merge Oct. 11 following regulatory and other approvals.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health has reached a definitive agreement to add Monticello, Ark.-based Drew Memorial Health System to its enterprise. 

El Segundo, Calif.-based Pipeline Health is now a four-hospital system — all of which are in the Los Angeles area —- after it completed the sale of White Rock Medical Center in Dallas to Heights Healthcare of Texas.

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health have called off a planned $11 billion merger, the two systems said Oct. 11.

Bondholder Preston Hollow Community Capital has outbid the University of Iowa for Mercy Iowa City hospital in a surprise turn of events, according to an Oct. 10 The Gazette report.

Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System has acquired PhysicianOne Urgent Care, which operates 26 urgent care facilities across Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, according to its website. 

Ithaca, N.Y.-based Cayuga Health System and Arnot Health are seeking regulatory approval from the state to affiliate as members of a parent company which would comprise five hospitals.

Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare is selling its 302-bed Alvarado Hospital Medical Center to UC San Diego Health for $200 million.

SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania workers voiced concerns that a proposed merger between Pittsburgh-based UPMC and Washington (Pa.) Health System would harm patients and workers, Observer-Reporter Oct. 5.

Elevance's proposed $2.5 billion acquisition of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana was put on hold in late September after the deal came under scrutiny from state senators and the attorney general.

West Virginia is now home to a larger academic health system through the combination of Huntington-based Mountain Health Network, Marshall Health and Marshall University, which was finalized Oct. 5. 

The auction for the bankrupt Mercy Iowa City hospital was postponed late Oct. 4 after a day of legal negotiations behind closed doors, according to a report from The Gazette.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison will hold a public meeting Oct. 25 to engage local communities as part of a review to ensure two proposed mergers in the state are in compliance with both federal and state law, according to an Oct. 3 Duluth News Tribune report.

Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health has struck a deal to acquire Ascension Wisconsion's stake in Network Health, the health insurer jointly owned by the systems.  

Here is a summary of hospital and healthcare merger and acquisition-related transactions from September:

Mercy Iowa City hospital is now under auction as a rival bid is competing with the University of Iowa health system, The Gazette reported Oct. 3. 

Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care has expanded its strategic relationship with local hospitals belonging to Community Health Systems. 

Mullica Hill, N.J.-based Inspira Health has completed the integration of Salem, N.J.-based Salem Medical Center, which has been rebranded as Inspira Medical Center Mannington. 

Three Ohio facilities, including two hospitals, operated by Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers are now officially part of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Parkview Health.

Mobile, Ala.-based University of South Alabama announced that Ascension Providence Hospital and its clinics are part of USA Health, the university's academic health system.