Great Falls, Mont.-based Benefis Health System has acquired Missouri River Medical Center in Fort Benton.

The prior authorization (PA) process healthcare providers endure is a story of unintended consequences.

Grant Memorial Hospital in Petersburg, W.Va., became a full member of the West Virginia University Health System, effective July 1.

Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica is selling a hospital in Tecumseh, Mich., which has been closed since 2020.

Houston-based Nutex Health, a micro-hospital network, opened the Covington Trace ER & Hospital, in Mandeville, La. 

Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System has expedited its takeover of Demorest, Ga.-based Habersham Medical Center as Habersham continued to bleed money, according to a July 5 Atlanta Business Chronicle report.

Healthcare M&A continued apace in the first six months of this year. Here are some of the most significant transactions during the period.

The long-awaited incorporation of Exeter (N.H.) Health Resources into Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health is now official after all regulatory approvals were confirmed.

Christus Health will acquire Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, N.M., effective July 1. 

American Healthcare Systems, a Los Angeles-based healthcare operator, has made multiple moves to purchase hospitals in 2023. Here are three purchases the company has made since April: 

American Healthcare Systems has purchased Wilson N. Jones Regional Medical Center, a 214-bed hospital in Sherman, Texas, KXII reported June 28. 

After more than 18 months since signaling plans to combine, Boston Children's Hospital and Brighton, Mass.-based Franciscan Children's said they will close on an affiliation agreement July 1.

A new ownership group plans to buy and reopen Healthmark Regional Medical Center, a 50-bed hospital in Defuniak Springs, Fla., that closed in March 2022, mypanhandle.com reported June 28. 

Walgreens wants to close 300 Boots retail stores in the UK, about 14 percent of its portfolio there, according to a June 27 BBC News report.

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine agreed to acquire the shuttered Coatesville, Pa.-based Brandywine Hospital from West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health, Philadelphia Business Journal reported June 27.

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed changes to the premerger notification form in addition to premerger notification rules implementing the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which requires organizations to report large transactions to the FTC and Justice Department for antitrust review.

Pittsburgh-based UPMC is likely to face opposition from organized labor and federal regulators as it looks to finalize its merger with Washington (Pa.) Health System, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported June 25.

Health services deals have slowed some compared to surges in recent years, according to a midyear report from PWC.

The last few years have been wrought with change for hospitals and health systems amid increased consolidation and physician affiliation, according to a June 20 article in Health Affairs.

The boards of Washington (Pa.) Health System and Pittsburgh-based UPMC signed a letter of intent to negotiate a deal that would integrate WHS into UPMC.