Catholic Medical Center, a 330-bed regional health system in Manchester, N.H., is pursuing a deal to join HCA Healthcare.
CMC announced July 1 that it entered into an asset purchase agreement with a subsidiary of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare and initiated the regulatory review process with the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.
Nonprofit CMC and investor-owned HCA signaled mutual interest in September 2023, when the two signed a nonbinding letter of intent to explore a potential integration. At that time, the systems said they were working toward a proposed agreement in which CMC would maintain its Catholic identity.
"This agreement is the result of months of due diligence, thoughtful negotiations between our organizations and discussion with the local community about how we can best serve them," CMC President and CEO Alex Walker said. "In addition to embracing our Catholic mission, HCA is committed to healthcare excellence, community service and investing in our people and facilities."
The health systems are prepared for the regulatory process to proceed "over the coming months," and did not specify a tentative date for finalizing the deal.
CMC has an affiliated medical staff of more than 400 providers and more than 3,000 employees, who serve more than 180,000 patients each year. Since 2017, it has operated as part of GraniteOne Health, an alliance of New Hampshire hospitals.
In 2022, The Boston Globe published investigative reporting about a CMC surgeon with one of the worst surgical malpractice records in the United States and ties to 14 patient deaths, initiating an internal review process that spanned several months. So far this year, CMC suffered a vendor-related cybersecurity breach and enacted layoffs as part of a cost-reduction effort to stabilize its finances.
HCA currently operates three hospitals in New Hampshire: Parkland Medical Center in Derry, Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester.