Hospital and health system merger and acquisition activity increased 27% year over year in 2023, and 2024 is already off to a busy start.

Jersey City, N.J.-based CarePoint Health and Hudson Regional Hospital in Secaucus, N.J., have signed a letter of intent to combine under a new management company, Hudson Health System, which will incorporate the acute care facilities of both organizations.

Cincinnati-based Mercy Health acquired the Orthopedic Institute of Western Kentucky in Paducah, effective Jan. 1.

Editor's Note: The headline for this article in the Becker's Hospital Review E-newsletter on Jan. 12 stated that Penn Medicine would acquire six hospitals, which is incorrect. Penn Medicine is a six-hospital system and would become a seven-hospital system should the proposed transaction be completed.  The University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia and Doylestown (Pa.) Health have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to explore if Doylestown will become part of Penn Medicine, a six-hospital system.

Hospital and health system merger and acquisition activity increased 27% year over year to 75 announced transactions in 2023, according to a report published Jan. 2 by Cain Brothers, a division of Key Banc Capital Markets.

Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics are snapping up lab businesses from health systems across the U.S. Here are seven deals Becker's has reported since March 20:

Health systems are pursuing joint ventures and service line partnerships in multiple sectors this year, including outpatient surgery, behavioral health, post-acute care, physician services, urgent care and hospital-at-home programs. 

The Federal Trade Commission has begun a review of Pittsburgh-based UPMC's plans to acquire Washington Health System, according to a Jan. 10 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.

Hills & Dales Healthcare, based in Cass City, Mich., and UnitedHealthcare Partners, based in Marlette, Mich., have joined forces to create a three-hospital system. 

Gunnison (Colo.) Valley Health is in talks with Vail-Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery to acquire ownership of several of its locations, a spokesperson for the physician group told Becker's. 

Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health and Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System have ended efforts to combine into a 25-hospital regional health system. 

Being part of a regional healthcare system will give Fort Payne, Ala.-based DeKalb Regional Medical Center access to local resources it does not have, Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital Health System CEO Jeff Samz told al.com in a Jan. 4 report.

The year is off to a busy start in Missouri healthcare, with three health system partnerships closing in two days. 

Columbia-based University of Missouri Health Care and Jefferson City, Mo.-based Capital Region Medical Center have completed their integration, with both health systems unified under the one brand: MU Health Care. 

Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital Health System plans to acquire DeKalb Regional Medical Center, a 134-bed hospital in Fort Payne, al.com reported Jan. 2.

SoutheastHealth — a Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based system including two hospitals, a behavioral health hospital and 48 clinics — is now part of St. Louis-based Mercy. 

Beckley, W.Va.-based Carl Larson Cancer Center has officially joined Vandalia Health to provide more procedure capacity and expand available services to the community, according to a Charleston (W.Va.) Area Medical Center release shared with Becker's. 

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare and Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke's Health System — which signed a letter of intent to combine in May — have finalized their transaction to merge. 

The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have ramped up antitrust enforcement against mergers and acquisitions across various industries, including healthcare, since Lina Khan, 34, was appointed FTC chair, a position she will hold until Sept. 25, 2024. 

It was a busy year for health system transactions, as organizations — 18 in the third quarter alone — joined forces to weather financial challenges.