Blount (Tenn.) Memorial Hospital CEO Harold Naramore, MD, is accusing Blount County Mayor Ed Mitchell of interfering in hospital operations after the mayor proposed Knoxville-based University of Tennessee Medical Center take over operations of the hospital, NBC affiliate WBIR reported Feb. 17.

The Federal Trade Commission has welcomed the State University of New York Upstate Medical University and Crouse Health System's decision to abandon their proposed merger, which it said would have left Syracuse with just two hospital systems — Upstate and St. Joseph's Health — and given the combined entity a 67 percent share of commercially insured inpatient services in Onondaga County.

Kalispell, Mont.-based Logan Health, a six-hospital system, and Billings Clinic have inked a letter of intent to explore merging into one independent health system to improve healthcare access, service and quality in Montana and northern Wyoming. 

Blount County, Tenn., Mayor Ed Mitchell will ask the Blount County Board of Commissioners to transfer operations ownership of Blount County Memorial Hospital to Knoxville-based University of Tennessee Medical Center, The Daily Times reported Feb. 15.

CommonSpirit Health will acquire Steward Health Care's sites of care in Utah, which will then be managed by Centura Health, the systems announced Feb. 15. 

Atlantic City, N.J.-based AtlantiCare, a two-hospital system, and Select Medical have forged a joint venture to own and operate a new inpatient rehabilitation hospital in Galloway Township, N.J., and 13 outpatient physical therapy facilities in southeastern New Jersey. 

Pennsylvania-based health systems Lehigh Valley Health Network and Universal Health Services have partnered to build a behavioral health hospital in the state's Hanover Township.

The long-awaited merger between Exeter (N.H.) Health Resources and Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health is now subject to a public meeting with the New Hampshire attorney general, according to a Feb. 13 seacoastonline.com report.

More than a dozen hospital mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, affiliations and partnerships were unwound or called off throughout the past 21 months.

Ken Powell — the former CEO of processed-food giant General Mills and chair of the University of Minnesota's board of regents — has called upon Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services to slow down their proposed merger, the Star Tribune reported. 

Financially troubled Tower Health and Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine have decided to no longer pursue their strategic alliance, the two systems said in a Feb. 10 filing.

The Minnesota Hospital Association is speaking out against a proposed law that would increase the state's oversight of hospital and health system mergers. 

The Health Care Authority of the City of Anniston (Ala.) has signed a letter of intent for RMC Health System to become an affiliate of Birmingham, Ala.-based UAB Health System.

Providence plans to expand its network of ASCs by deepening its partnership with Tenet-affiliate United Surgical Partners International.

Health systems are looking to combine their resources through mergers and acquisitions as financial challenges plague the industry. Now, state lawmakers want a hand in the deal. 

Lifepoint Health acquired a majority ownership interest in behavioral health network Springstone, closing a deal that adds 18 hospitals and 35 outpatient locations to the Lifepoint network. 

Columbus-based OhioHealth and Select Medical, an operator of long-term acute care and inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, have inked a definitive agreement to acquire the operating assets of Reunion Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin, Ohio.

Private equity had its second-best year for healthcare services deal activity in 2022 — 2021 being the best — after firms announced or closed an estimated 863 transactions, according to a Feb. 3 report by market research firm Pitchbook.

More than 50 students and medical professionals from the Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota rallied Feb. 3 to protest the proposed merger between Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services, according to the Pioneer Press. 

Houston-based Nutex Health, a micro-hospital network, opened up its 22nd location in Fort Smith, Ark.