Weiser (Idaho) Memorial Hospital and Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke's Health System have signed a letter of intent to consider integration, according to a report from The Angus Observer.
Weiser Memorial Communications Director Layna Hafer told the Observer the shifting healthcare industry — including declining Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement — led the hospital to explore joining St. Luke's. Weiser Memorial originally reached out to the health system last December, and an integration steering committee including leaders from both organizations has been assembled.Weiser Memorial and St. Luke's will now conduct due diligence during the next six months. The hospital is expected to join the health system next April.
St. Luke's has been dealing with an antitrust case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and two of St. Luke's competitors — Saint Alphonsus Health System and Treasure Valley Hospital in Boise. This past January, Chief U.S. Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled St. Luke's 2012 acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group, one of the largest independent multispecialty groups in Idaho, would have anticompetitive results. St. Luke's was ordered to divest Saltzer. However, St. Luke's appealed the decision, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the health system can maintain ties with the medical group.