Alan Condon
CMS finalizes 2.6% pay bump for hospitals in 2026: 8 things to know – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
CMS published its fiscal year 2026 Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System final rule on July 31. Here are eight things to know: 1. CMS finalizes 2.6% Medicare payment increase for acute care hospitals. In 2026, CMS will increase Medicare inpatient hospital payments by 2.6% — a slight increase from […]
Read MoreHow ‘consumer confidence’ is impacting hospital volumes: A tale of 2 health systems – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
As inflation pressures persist and household budgets tighten, two of the largest for-profit health systems are offering contrasting views on the role of consumer confidence in shaping patient behavior — particularly when it comes to surgical procedures and care with high out-of-pocket costs. During recent second-quarter earnings calls, executives from HCA Healthcare and Community Health […]
Read MoreCommunity Health Network, GoHealth launch urgent care JV – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
Indianapolis-based Community Health Network has entered into a joint venture with GoHealth Urgent Care to operate and expand urgent care services across Indiana. Under the agreement, six of CHN’s Community’s MedCheck urgent care centers will transition to Community-GoHealth Urgent Care centers. The joint venture also includes plans for additional locations to meet rising demand for […]
Read MoreMedicare, Medicaid turns 60: What’s changing — and what it means for hospitals – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
July 30, 2025, marks the 60th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, which have grown to cover about 140 million people combined, including older adults, people with disabilities and low-income families. Medicare insures more than 68 million people, while 71 million are enrolled in Medicaid. That safety net is under pressure. Millions of Americans are projected […]
Read MoreTackling readmissions at the root: Why a rural health system is reframing the problem – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
A few decades ago, readmissions were seen as a mark of volume. Today, they are a marker of vulnerability. Especially in rural America, they expose the thin edge where clinical complexity meets social fragility. Ballad Health recently convened a systemwide Readmissions Summit to confront a question that is easy to define but difficult to solve: […]
Read MoreUHS CFO: New Nevada hospital causing ‘cannibalization’ of nearby facilities – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services on Dec. 3 opened a 150-bed acute care hospital in Nevada that has had a certain “cannibalization impact” on the division’s same facility volumes and revenues in 2025, CFO Steve Filton said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on July 29. The newly opened West Henderson (Nev.) Hospital […]
Read MoreHow HCA, CHS, Tenet and UHS fared in Q2 – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
Despite headwinds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will slash Medicaid funding, four of the nation’s largest for-profit health systems — HCA Healthcare, Community Health Systems, Tenet Healthcare and Universal Health Services — delivered strong margins and operating incomes in the second quarter of 2025 and remain cautiously optimistic about future earnings Here’s […]
Read MoreUHS posts $500M operating gain, 11.7% margin in Q2: 8 things to know – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services reported an operating income of $500.3 million (11.7% margin) in the second quarter, up from an operating gain of $436.4 million (11.2% margin) in the second quarter of 2024, according to financial results published July 28. Eight things to know: 1. UHS reported a net income of $353.2 […]
Read MoreHCA vs. AdventHealth: North Carolina Supreme Court halts ruling in hospital turf war – Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News
The North Carolina Supreme Court has temporarily halted a state appellate court ruling in an escalating certificate-of-need dispute between Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health and Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth, underscoring a fierce competition to expand in Western North Carolina, according to The Carolina Journal. The July 26 court order granted Mission’s motion for a stay, pausing […]
Read More24 large health systems growing bigger
As merger and acquisition activity picks up post-pandemic, dozens of large health systems are expanding their footprints — adding hospitals, building regional dominance and solidifying national reach.
Here are 24 large health systems that have grown in quarters or are planning strategic mergers or acquisitions this year:
Editor’s note: This is not an exhaustive list.
1. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, part of Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, acquired Hugh Chatham Health in Elkin, N.C., in July. Hugh Chatham Health includes an 81-bed acute care hospital and a medical group with more than 70 providers across 25 locations. Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the U.S.
2. Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke’s University Health Network acquired Sellersville, Pa.-based Grand View Health in July. Grand View is St. Luke’s 16th campus. St. Luke’s is a nonprofit system with 21,000 employees and more than $4 billion in revenue.
3. New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health and Danbury, Conn.-based Nuvance Health merged into a 28-hospital system in May. The integrated system has more than 1,050 ambulatory care sites, 104,000 employees and annual revenues of about $23 billion.
4. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare acquired eight Illinois hospitals from St. Louis-based Ascension in March. The transaction increased the number of hospitals in Prime’s portfolio to 53. Prime also plans to acquire Lewiston-based Central Maine Healthcare, entering another new state, by the end of 2025. Central Maine Healthcare is an integrated health system with three hospitals, a cancer center and network of physician practices across the state.
5. Nashville Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare acquired Catholic Medical Center, a 330-bed regional system in Manchester, N.H., in February. HCA, a 187-hospital system, now operates four hospitals in New Hampshire, including Parkland Medical Center in Derry, Portsmouth Regional Hospital and Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester. The for-profit system also acquired Lehigh Acres, Fla.-based Lehigh Regional Medical Center from Prime Healthcare in February. The 53-bed hospital — renamed HCA Florida Lehigh Hospital — is part of HCA’s west Florida division.
6. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth acquired ShorePoint Health-Port Charlotte (Fla.) and certain assets of ShorePoint Health-Punta Gorda (Fla.) from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health System in March. AdventHealth acquired the hospitals for $260 million.
7. Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System merged into a 56-hospital system with about 56,000 employees and two health plans, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
8. Columbus-based OhioHealth in January acquired Morrow County Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Mount Gilead, Ohio, becoming the health system’s 16th hospital. In the past two years, OhioHealth has acquired two other hospitals — Van Wert (Ohio) Hospital and Southeastern Medical Center in Cambridge — and opened Pickerington Methodist Hospital.
9. Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health in December acquired Maryville, Tenn.-based Blount Memorial Hospital, a 304-bed, nonprofit community hospital. Blount Memorial is the only hospital that Prisma operates outside of South Carolina.
10. Risant Health, a nonprofit formed under Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, acquired Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger and Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health last year. Risant plans to acquire about three to four other health systems to become a company with up to $35 billion in annual revenue over the next five years.
11. Morgantown.-based West Virginia University Health System has quickly grown into a 25-hospital, regional system after a string of acquisitions in recent years, including:
Weirton Medical Center
Grant Memorial Hospital (Petersburg)
Thomas Health (Charleston)
12. In November, The University of Alabama System acquired Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System, which includes five hospitals, for $450 million. The deal increased the number of hospitals in UAB Health’s footprint to 17.
13. Irving, Texas-based Christus Health, which comprises more than 60 hospitals, acquired Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, in November.
14. Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare acquired Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital, an 80-bed facility in Dixon, Ill., in September 2024.
15. Orlando (Fla.) Health in October 2024 acquired Tenet’s 70% majority ownership interest in Birmingham, Ala.-based Brookwood Baptist Health for about $910 million in cash. The transaction includes five hospitals:
Brookwood Baptist Medical Center (Birmingham)
Princeton Baptist Medical Center (Birmingham)
Walker Baptist Medical Center (Jasper, Ala.)
Shelby Baptist Medical Center (Alabaster, Ala.)
Citizens Baptist Medical Center (Talladega, Ala.)
The health system also acquired three Steward Health Care hospitals in Florida. The $439 million deal included Rockledge (Fla.) Regional Medical Center, Melbourne (Fla.) Regional Medical Center, Sebastian (Fla.) River Medical Center and some of Steward Medical Group’s practices.
16. In September, St. Louis-based Mercy acquired Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kan. Mercy, a 50-hospital system, now has three hospitals in Kansas: Mercy Hospital Pittsburg, Mercy Hospital Columbus and Mercy Specialty Hospital-Southeast Kansas in Galena.
17. Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health and Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network merged to form a 32-hospital system with more than 700 care sites in August 2024. The combined entity creates one of the 15 largest non-profit health systems in the U.S.
18. UCSF Health acquired two hospitals — San Francisco-based Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center — from Dignity Health in August 2024. As part of the $100 million acquisition, the hospitals shed their religious affiliation and are now known as UCSF Health Saint Francis and UCSF Health St. Mary’s. UCSF will invest $100 million to support the integration of the hospitals over the next two years.
19. MyMichigan Health acquired three Michigan hospitals and their related assets from St. Louis-based Ascension in August. Midland-based MyMichigan also acquired the Ascension Medical Group care sites and physician practices associated with the hospitals, which include:
Ascension St. Mary’s (Saginaw)
Ascension St. Mary’s (Standish)
Ascension St. Joseph (Tawas City)
20. Washington (Pa.) Health, a two-hospital system, joined Pittsburgh-based UPMC in June 2024. As part of the affiliation, UPMC will invest at least $300 million over a decade to improve clinical services at the two hospitals, which have been rebranded as UPMC Washington and UPMC Greene hospitals.
21. Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System signed a definitive agreement to acquire New Brunswick, N.J.-based Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in June 2024. Under the proposed transaction, Atlantic Health will take Saint Peter’s under its wing to become its single corporate member. Saint Peter’s Catholic mission and identity would be maintained under the deal.
22. Orange, Calif.-based UCI Health acquired four hospitals for $975 million from Tenet Healthcare’s Pacific Coast Network in March 2024. They include:
Fountain Valley Regional Hospital
Lakewood Regional Medical Center
Los Alamitos Medical Center
Placentia-Linda Hospital
23. In March 2024, Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health spent about $550 million to acquire two hospitals from Tenet: Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, Calif. The hospitals have been rebranded as Adventist Health Sierra Vista and Adventist Health Twin Cities.
24. Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health spent $2.4 billion to acquire three hospitals from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare in February 2024. They include:
East Cooper Medical Center (Mount Pleasant, S.C.)
Hilton Head (S.C.) Hospital
Coastal Carolina Hospital (Hardeeville, S.C.)
The post 24 large health systems growing bigger appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.
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