Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System and New Brunswick, N.J.-based Saint Peter's Healthcare System have signed a letter of intent to bring Saint Peter's into Atlantic Health's care network to expand care access.

At least two dozen hospital mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, affiliations and partnerships were unwound or called off throughout the past 24 months.

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions face a number of rising threats: high interest rates, regulatory probes and "macroeconomic uncertainty," to name a few. That means deals will need to be more thoughtful in 2024, according to a Jan. 30 article on Bain & Co.'s website.

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission on Jan. 25 called for further review of the proposed clinical affiliation between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC. 

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has penned a letter complicating a proposed merger between Liberty (Mo.) Hospital and the Kansas City-based University of Kansas Health System, The Kansas City Star reported Jan. 25. 

The Federal Trade Commission said it is suing Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health in a move to block its $320 million acquisition of two North Carolina hospitals from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. 

Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health has sold the building housing Center for Women's Health and Wellness in Mason, Ohio, for $4.2 million and has plans to relocate.

Mercy Iowa City will become part of the University of Iowa Health Care beginning Jan. 31, the Daily Iowan reported Jan. 24.

The University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington on Jan. 23 submitted a certificate-of-need application to the Green Mountain Care Board, seeking approval to buy the Fanny Allen campus for $17.3 million. 

Marc Harrison, MD, CEO of General Catalyst's Health Assurance Transformation Corp., or HATCo, said one of the venture capital firm's goals is to put Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health "on a trajectory to become a forever organization for the community it serves." 

Healthcare merger and acquisition activity has been up and down over the last few years, with activity slow in the first three quarters of last year. However, 2024 will be a "vigorous season for M&A activity in healthcare," according to a Jan. 22 Grant Thornton report.

In the last two months, HCA Healthcare has scooped up multiple hospitals, freestanding emergency departments and surgery centers in Texas. 

Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health has entered into a service agreement with Upland, Pa.-based Crozer Health to provide neurological care services in Pennsylvania's Delaware County.

Surgery Ventures, operated by Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, has acquired majority stakes in two ambulatory surgery centers in North Texas and will manage day-to-day operations at both facilities, a spokesperson for the health system told Becker's.

A dozen states make up the Midwest, but many more Americans in neighboring states think they, too, are part of the region. 

Academic health systems are coming to the rescue of community hospitals through creative alignments, partnerships and acquisitions to ensure access to care.

Mercy Health and Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health have completed a joint venture agreement to operate Rogers (Ark.) Rehabilitation Hospital, a 140-bed facility, which is now named Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital Northwest Arkansas.

CareView Communications, a health IT company, is partnering with an unnamed Montana-based health system to expand its Pacific Northwest presence. 

General Catalyst's leaders said its proposed acquisition of Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health should not be "mischaracterized as another 'private equity' deal."

Milford (Mass.) Regional Medical Center and Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health have signed a definitive agreement for their affiliation.