There were several hospital mergers that, at some point in their lifetime, were called off in the past year.
Below are six hospital mergers called off since May 2020, beginning with the most recent:
1. Sanford no longer pursuing Intermountain merger
Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review in March that it is no longer pursuing a merger with Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare. Sanford and Intermountain announced in October they had signed a letter of intent to merge, with completion of the deal expected in 2021. The deal was officially canceled after Sanford indefinitely suspended merger discussions in early December because of the abrupt exit of its longtime president and CEO, Kelby Krabbenhoft. The combined system would have operated 70 hospitals and employed more than 89,000 people.
2. Georgia health systems drop plan to combine
Macon, Ga.-based Atrium Health Navicent and Warner Robins, Ga.-based Houston Healthcare abandoned their proposed merger in February. The Federal Trade Commission announced March 3 that commission staff recommended challenging the transaction after determining it would eliminate competition and raise healthcare costs in central Georgia. The commission voted 4-0 to disclose the investigation and close it after the deal was called off.
3. Advocate Aurora, Beaumont cancel merger
Advocate Aurora Health, which has dual headquarters in Milwaukee and Downers Grove, Ill., and Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health called off their merger plan Oct. 2, about five months after signing a letter of intent to combine. The proposed merger faced criticism from some Beaumont physicians, nurses and donors. In August, the Beaumont board of trustees confirmed it would delay a vote on the planned merger. The trustees decided to postpone the vote after seeing the results of a survey, completed by 1,500 of the system's 5,000 physicians, that revealed a lack of confidence in Beaumont's leadership and concerns about its proposed merger with Advocate Aurora. The merger of Beaumont and Advocate Aurora would have created a $17 billion system with 36 hospitals.
4. California hospital ends merger talks with Dignity Health
County officials overseeing Ventura (Calif.) County Medical Center ended merger talks with San Francisco-based Dignity Health in July after leaders from both parties deemed an affiliation too risky. County Health Care Agency Director Bill Foley said Dignity officials considered it a risk to take on public hospitals, while county managers were concerned they would give up control but still face risk for buildings and finances. County officials were also concerned VCMC would lose its designation as a public hospital under either a lease or a contract with Dignity, which would put roughly $150 million in annual funding at risk.
5. Beaumont, Summa Health cancel $6.1B merger plan
Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health called off a proposed merger with Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health in late May. They ended talks about five months after signing a definitive agreement, under which Summa Health would have become a subsidiary of Beaumont. The proposed deal, which had already received all necessary regulatory approvals, would have created a nonprofit system with 12 hospitals and $6.1 billion in annual revenue.
6. 4 Chicago hospitals call off $1.1B merger plan
Chicago-based Advocate Trinity Hospital, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, South Shore Hospital and St. Bernard Hospital signed a letter of intent in January 2020 to combine into a single health system and build at least one new hospital and several community health centers. The hospitals called off the deal in late May after government funding for the $1.1 billion plan fell through.
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LifePoint, Prisma call off 3-hospital deal