In 2012, Boston-based Partners HealthCare and Melrose, Mass.-based Hallmark Health System signed a memorandum of understanding to merge, and the two entities may be closing in on an agreement, according to a Melrose Free Press report.
Hallmark Health Executive Vice President for Strategy and External Affairs Alan Macdonald told the Melrose Free Press the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is spurring providers to think about how competitors can partner so healthcare can stay in the "communities we serve."
Melrose Mayor Rob Dolan also gave a potential merger his blessing, telling the news outlet that "to run a smaller hospital [like Hallmark Health's Melrose-Wakefield Hospital] is incredibly difficult." He also said Partners would allow Hallmark Health to make capital investments and improvements.
Partners has been active on the merger and acquisition scene over the past several years. In July, Partners closed on its transaction with Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass. The system is also looking to acquire South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass.
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