Here are 13 major hospital and healthcare merger and acquisition deals from January:

The Minnesota Nurses Association is encouraging legislators to pass a bill which would give the state's health department power to approve or deny hospital mergers based on how they can affect patients and communities. 

St. Augustine, Fla.-based Flagler Health+ plans to join UF Health, the University of Florida's academic health center, in 2023.

West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health hopes to cement a deal to sell 17 of its urgent care centers in the coming months, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported Feb. 1

Dignity Health International, the international arm of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, has acquired a minority equity stake in RAK Hospital, one of the United Arab Emirates' most acclaimed private hospitals, according to the Khaleej Times.

Medical students, state representatives and a nurses union spoke out against a proposed merger between Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services at a Jan. 30 Minnesota House meeting. 

Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based SoutheastHealth has signed a letter of intent to merge with St. Louis-based Mercy, a 42-hospital system.

The New Jersey Department of Health is backing CarePoint Health's plan to maintain the nonprofit status of its three hospitals, indicating that the state health planning board may follow suit when it hears the case on Feb. 3, according to nj.com.

The North Carolina Senate is considering legislation requiring health systems to submit merger and acquisition proposals for review by the state's attorney general, the Winston-Salem Journal reported Jan. 30.

After a slight uptick last year, hospital and health system mergers and acquisitions are expected to continue to rise in 2023.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has asked Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Minneapolis-based Fairview Health System to slow down their proposed merger, the Star Tribune reported Jan. 25. 

El Centro (Calif.) Regional Medical Center is looking to a merger to stay afloat after its acting CEO and CFO resigned, the Imperial Valley Press reported Jan. 25. 

Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth and Parkview Health System on Jan. 24 signed an agreement to merge in mid-2023.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is in the process of acquiring the closed Norman (Okla.) Specialty Hospital for nearly $3.3 million, with plans of turning the building into a new VA hospital, The Norman Transcript reported Jan. 24.

Louisville, Ky.-based ScionHealth has completed the acquisition of Dallas-based Cornerstone Healthcare Group, adding 15 specialty hospitals, eight senior living locations and about 3,000 providers to its network.

Despite hospital consolidation concerns, "growth is critical" to the success of Yale New Haven Health, and its planned 3-hospital acquisition will benefit patients in the state, CEO Christopher O'Connor told the Hartford Courant.

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has agreed to sell Plateau Medical Center in Oak Hill, W.Va. to Vandalia Health System, according to the Register-Herald.

Almost half of the more than 400 executives surveyed in a recent Mercer report on workplace trends said they will be looking at strategic partnerships as a way of harnessing talent in a challenging macro environment.

When there's less competition, prices are higher. That's one fundamental principle of economics that applies to all markets, and this is especially true in healthcare, where American hospitals are the driver of the rising cost of care, Barak Richman, PhD, professor of law and business administration at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University, wrote in a Jan. 19 column for Politico.

Financial and clinical challenges will ensure merger and acquisition activity remains strong in the healthcare sector in 2023, building on the momentum of last year, Kaufman Hall said in a Jan. 12 report.