A Kanawha County Circuit Court judge denied Steel of West Virginia's request to halt Cabell Huntington (W.Va) Hospital's acquisition of Huntington, W.Va.-based St. Mary's Medical Center until after the appeal process, according to The Herald-Dispatch.
Judge James Stucky said in his opinion that Huntington-based Steel of West Virginia did not sufficiently prove that the appeal would benefit the parties involved, that the company would be harmed if the stay was not granted, that the stay would benefit the public interest or that Cabell Huntington would not be substantially harmed, according to the article.
Steel of West Virginia has until Sept. 12 to submit its brief to the circuit court for appeal. The hospital will have 30 days to respond.
Cabell Huntington began its $165 million acquisition of St. Mary's in 2014. The West Virginia Health Care Authority approved the acquisition in June 2015.
The FTC filed a complaint against the merger in November 2015, but dropped its complaint last month in light of the state-issued cooperative agreement law passed in March.
In August, a judge denied Cabell Huntington's motion to dismiss the appeal and denied the FTC's motion to be granted affected party status for the appeal.