Healthcare mergers and acquisitions that made headlines in March

Here are 10 major hospital and healthcare merger and acquisition-related transactions from March:

1. The boards of Atlanta-based Wellstar Health System and Augusta (Ga.) University Health System approved a new affiliation that will see Wellstar invest $800 million in Augusta facilities over the next 10 years.
   
   
2. Australian private equity group HMC Capital inked an $859 million deal to acquire 11 hospitals from Birmingham, Ala.-based Medical Properties Trust, according to a March 29 report.
   
   
3. CVS Health closed its $8 billion acquisition of clinician support group Signify Health March 29, adding more than 10,000 clinicians in the process.
   
   
4. Baton Rouge, La.-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System is to acquire Mississippi's Singing River Health System after an agreement signed March 27. The acquisition is expected to close in the fall.
   
   
5. St. Louis-based Mercy finalized a lease agreement to add Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Mo., to its network, which now totals 17 critical access hospitals.
   
   
6. Flint, Mich.-based Insight completed the acquisition of Blessing Health Keokuk (Iowa), a hospital which had been shuttered since Oct. 1.
   
   
7. Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System acquired Thompson Healthcare & Sports Medicine March 15. Thompson has 75 providers at 11 locations in the state.
   
   
8. Tewksbury, Mass.-based Covenant Health suddenly called off a long-planned merger with Putnam, Conn.-based Day Kimball Healthcare March 14 because of financial complications.
   
   
9. Pittsburgh-based UPMC completed its acquisition of Sports Surgery Clinic in Dublin, the system's fourth purchase of a hospital in Ireland.
   
   
10. Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health are exploring a possible merger that could result in an $11 billion organization, the two systems revealed March 2.