The Federal Trade Commission has entered into a settlement with Albany, Ga.-based Phoebe Putney Health System and the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County regarding the system's acquisition of Palmyra Park Hospital in Albany, now known as Phoebe North.
The FTC filed suit in April 2011 to block Phoebe Putney's acquisition — through an arranged lease with the Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County — of Palmyra Medical Center. The consent agreement resolves the FTC charge that the acquisition was anticompetitive.
Under the agreement, Phoebe Putney and the Hospital Authority must notify the FTC in advance of purchasing any part of a hospital or a controlling interest in other healthcare providers in the Albany area for the next 10 years. Phoebe Putney and the Hospital Authority are also prohibited from objecting to regulatory applications made by potential new hospital providers in the Albany area for up to five years.
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