27 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 27 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. West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health acquired MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, effective Sept. 1. The facility, which has been rebranded UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s-Downtown, is the 37th hospital in UnityPoint’s footprint, according to its website.

2. Memphis, Tenn.-based Baptist Memorial Health Care signed a definitive agreement in August to acquire OCH Regional Medical Center in Starkville, Miss.. The transaction would increase the number of hospitals in the health system’s portfolio to 26. Baptist Memorial Health Care operates hospitals in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

3. 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.

4. 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. 

5. 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.

6. 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. 

7. 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. 

8. 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.

9. 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. 

10. 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. 

11. 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. 

12. 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.

13. 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)

14. 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. 

15. Irving, Texas-based Christus Health, which comprises more than 60 hospitals, acquired Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas, in November. 

16. Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare acquired Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital, an 80-bed facility in Dixon, Ill., in September 2024. 

17. 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.

18. 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. 

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. Detroit-based Henry Ford Health and Ascension Michigan launched a joint venture that essentially folded Ascension’s sites of care in the southeastern region of the state under the Henry Ford Health brand. The JV includes about 50,000 employees and more than 550 care sites across Michigan under Henry Ford Health. The following 10 Ascension Michigan hospitals, which have since rebranded, are covered by the JV:

• Ascension St. John Hospital
• Ascension Genesys Hospital
• Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital and Warren, Madison Heights campuses
• Ascension Providence Hospital and Novi, Southfield campuses
• Ascension Providence Rochester Hospital
• Ascension River District Hospital

22. 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)

23. 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. 

24. 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.

25. 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 

26. 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.

27. 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.)

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/24-large-health-systems-growing-bigger/

New Russia-China gas agreement could shake global energy markets

 This week's announcement of a massive new gas pipeline to be built between China and Russia is a "geopolitical chess move" that may see China as the biggest beneficiary of the Ukraine war, Russia with a major new customer, and U.S. energy companies with a surplus of liquefied natural gas export terminals - if the deal actually happens - Semafor energy editor Tim McDonnell said in an analysis.

The pipeline, known as Power of Siberia 2, would be able to transport as much as 50B cm/year of gas - on top of the first Power of Siberia pipeline, from Siberia to China, which transports 38B cm/year and could be expanded to 44B cm/year.

The pipelines would create competition for LNG exporters, which currently send ~600B cm/year around the world; the U.S. is the fastest-growing LNG exporter, and companies want to send much more gas to Asia, but more Russian gas could make that goal more difficult to achieve.

When Russia's President Putin met President Trump in Alaska last month, it looked like a chance for Putin ease back into Western energy markets that began to exclude him after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but instead, his agreement on the new pipeline showed he prefers Russia's long-term relationship with China, McDonnell wrote.

For China, which already has suspended LNG imports from the U.S. for now, a huge new Asia-bound pipeline from Russia would give it important leverage in future LNG negotiations, and increase the entire region's access to piped gas - not good news for U.S. exporters - McDonnell said.

Chinese officials were notably more vague than Putin about the exact nature of the agreement, and the vital issue of gas pricing has not been resolved, prompting doubts about whether the pipeline actually will come to fruition.

Among U.S. companies with exposure to LNG: Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG), Venture Global (NYSE:VG), New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ:NFE), NextDecade (NASDAQ:NEXT), and Exxon Mobil (XOM).

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/new-russia-china-gas-agreement-could-shake-global-energy-markets/ar-AA1M1V2J

Nvidia says GAIN AI Act would restrict competition, likens it to AI Diffusion Rule

 Nvidia said on Friday the AI GAIN Act would restrict global competition for advanced chips, with similar effects on the U.S. leadership and economy as the AI Diffusion Rule, which put limits on the computing power countries could have.

Short for Guaranteeing Access and Innovation for National Artificial Intelligence Act, the GAIN AI Act was introduced as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and stipulates that AI chipmakers prioritize domestic orders for advanced processors before supplying them to foreign customers.

"We never deprive American customers in order to serve the rest of the world. In trying to solve a problem that does not exist, the proposed bill would restrict competition worldwide in any industry that uses mainstream computing chips," an Nvidia spokesperson said.

If passed into law, the bill would enact new trade restrictions mandating exporters obtain licenses and approval for the shipments of silicon exceeding certain performance caps.

"It should be the policy of the United States and the Department of Commerce to deny licenses for the export of the most powerful AI chips, including such chips with total processing power of 4,800 or above and to restrict the export of advanced artificial intelligence chips to foreign entities so long as United States entities are waiting and unable to acquire those same chips," the legislation reads.

The rules mirror some conditions under former U.S. President Joe Biden's AI diffusion rule, which allocated certain levels of computing power to allies and other countries.

The AI Diffusion Rule and AI GAIN Act are attempts by Washington to prioritize American needs, ensuring domestic firms gain access to advanced chips while limiting China's ability to obtain high-end tech amid fears that the country would use AI capabilities to supercharge its military.

Last month, President Donald Trump made an unprecedented deal with Nvidia to give the government a cut of its sales in exchange for resuming exports of banned AI chips to China.

https://www.aol.com/news/nvidia-says-gain-ai-act-220305832.html

Trump has ‘iron-clad’ stomach for political risk: UK ambassador Peter Mandelson

 British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson praised President Trump for having an “iron-clad” stomach when taking political risks, arguing that Brexit has allowed the U.K. to forge closer ties with the U.S. 

“The President may not follow the traditional rulebook or conventional practice, but he is a risk-taker in a world where a ‘business as usual’ approach no longer works,” Mandelson said in a keynote speech at The Ditchley Park on Saturday. 

“Indeed, he seems to have an iron-clad stomach for political risk, both at home and abroad,” the diplomat added. “Convening other nations and intervening in conflicts that other presidents would have thought endlessly about before descending into an analysis paralysis and gradual incrementalism.”

Mandelson, who was tapped by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the U.K.’s top diplomat in Washington late last year, has made inroads with the administration since crossing the Atlantic, helping the U.K. strike the first trade deal with the U.S.

The ambassador said on Saturday that Brexit has “freed” the U.K. to “pursue closer US ties.”  

“Britain has the opportunity to use its regulatory freedom and independence from European law to deepen American investment opportunities. This is crucial as, post-Brexit, we need to leverage every advantage we can to spur UK growth and employment,” Mandelson said. 

Mandelson credits Trump’s political instincts in “identifying the anxieties gripping not only millions of Americans, but also far more pervasive Western trends: economic stagnation for many, a sense of irreversible decline, the lost promise of meaningful work.” 

Mandelson’s remarks come ahead of Trump’s first visit to the U.K since returning to the White House earlier this year. He is expected to visit from Sept. 17 to Sept. 19, The Associated Press reported.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5490112-british-ambassador-praises-trump/

Trump sending National Guard to New Orleans in next crime crackdown

 President Trump announced Friday that he will soon be sending the National Guard to New Orleans after previously teasing that he would be targeting the city in his next federal crime crackdown.

“We’re going to come into New Orleans, and we’re going to make that place so safe,” Trump said during a Friday night event held in the White House’s newly renovated Rose Garden. “It’s got a little problem right now, a couple of headaches, like murders, a lot of little murders going on, and we’re not going to stand for it. And we’re going to come in, we’re going to clean it up.”

Trump’s confirmation that he’s planning to federalize New Orleans’ law enforcement comes days after he floated the idea. Trump on Wednesday said he was debating between sending Guardsmen into New Orleans, targeting a Republican-controlled state, or to Chicago.

“We’re making a determination now — do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite tough, quite bad,” Trump said Wednesday.

On Saturday, a military official told The Hill’s sister station NewsNation that the National Guard has not received any new deployment orders.

Illinois Democrats have been vocal about their lack of support for a federal crime crackdown in Chicago, with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) warning the president not to do so and calling his plans “an insult.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) has echoed similar sentiments and established the “Protecting Chicago Initiative” to protect the constitutional rights of Chicago residents. 

New Orleans also has a Democratic mayor, but the state of Louisiana is run by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, who has previously blamed Louisiana crime on progressive policies.

Trump, in his Friday announcement, pledged that New Orleans would be “safe” within two weeks and touted the crime reduction in Washington, D.C. since the federal crackdown began early last month.

“That’s going to be the safest place, just like this is the safest place,” Trump said. “And then we’ll be going elsewhere throughout the country, we’re going to bring crime down, because we can’t have cities that are unsafe.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5489619-trump-sending-national-guard-new-orleans/

‘Kennedy Derangement Syndrome’ is endangering America’s health

 There is stepping into a lion’s den, and then there is the much more dangerous option: stepping into a congressional hearing before a pride of attention-seeking senators looking to rip a fellow human apart for a multitude of self-serving reasons.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose the much more dangerous option this week, and has the rhetorical scars to prove it.

Kennedy appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, and it went as expected for anyone with even a day of experience in Washington. Although he took some bipartisan heat, it was mostly Democratic senators who went out of their way to smear Kennedy, brow-beat him, interrupt him incessantly whenever he did try to answer their questions or defend himself, and preen before the cameras.

There is only one other person who brings out a greater unhinged reaction among Democrats and the far left: President Trump. Over the last decade or so, the rage directed at him has accurately been described as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Over the decades — and especially as president — Trump has been correct about multiple issues and has done great good. Most of the left will acknowledge none of it.

Much of that irrational hatred and denial of basic facts for partisan advantage has now seemingly been directed at Kennedy. Many who watched Democratic senators’ vicious and relentless attacks on Kennedy might surmise that some are now afflicted with “Kennedy Derangement Syndrome.”

Ironically, it is Kennedy himself who can offer them the cure for what ails them: a fair and reasoned discussion regarding the health of the American people, free of partisan histrionics.

Soon after hearing about the gauntlet Kennedy had to run, Trump defended his HHS secretary at a luncheon at the White House, saying, “he’s a very good person … He means very well … I guarantee a lot of the people at this table like RFK Jr., and I do … I heard he did very well today. It’s not your standard talk, I would say that, and that has to do with medical and vaccines. But if you look at what’s going on in the world with health and look at this country also with regard to health, I like the fact that he’s different.”

Trump may like “different,” because he and Kennedy share many of the same traits when it comes to a positive interpretation of that word. Three years ago, I authored a book, “The 56: Liberty Lessons From Those Who Risked All to Sign the Declaration of Independence.” I wrote it to defend those men from being smeared and “canceled” by leftists during the woke era, and also to inform readers of the immense courage, vision and sacrifice of those Founding Fathers.

While doing research, I learned that many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence would have been considered quite wealthy by today’s standards — just as I learned that the vast majority of the wealthy in 1776 chose to side with the tyrannical British crown rather than risk their money and status. Not so among the 56, who instead asked themselves the two most critically important questions of their lives: “If not now, when? If not me, who?”

Those Founding Fathers could have remained in the shadows, like so many of the wealthy of their time, enjoying the good life while remaining out of harm’s way.

The same applies today to Trump and Kennedy. Both men knew that if they dared to step into the political arena to fight for their values, they would be mercilessly attacked by entrenched elites and special interests whose policies and grifts they threatened. And so they have been — Trump most of all.

Attacking Trump and Kennedy is great for fundraising and appeasing the radical left, but the name-calling, the smears, the lawfare, the partisan raids and denial of facts do the American people no good. This is especially so for those who may be sick or teetering on the edge of major health issues.

For decades, the chronic disease epidemic in our nation has mutated unchecked, costing millions of Americans their lives. To that greater point, during the hearing and after being harassed and insulted by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kennedy decided he had enough and fired back. “Senator, you’ve sat in that chair how long?” he asked. “Twenty to 25 years while the chronic disease of our children went up to 76 percent. And you said nothing. You never asked the question why it’s happening. Why is this happening?”

Again, like Trump, Kennedy needed none of this. He could have been living the good life in peace. Instead, he shoulders ever-increasing insults and accusations each day because of his quest to “Make America Healthy Again.”

Like it or not, the government-created and government-run health agencies have become bloated, politicized, massively bureaucratic and wasters of trillions of tax-payers’ money.

Trump and Kennedy want to reverse that so those agencies can once again focus entirely on the mission of making Americans healthier. The people’s representatives need to climb out of the sandbox and help them achieve that desperately needed goal.

Cooperation instead of defamation. Just what the doctor ordered.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5489176-kennedy-derangement-syndrome-is-endangering-americas-health/

Sunday talkies: Ladapo, Barrett, McMahon, Homan, Zelensky, Bessent, Moore

 NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday”: Reps. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.).

Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday”: Education Secretary Linda McMahon and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D)

Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures:” Border czar Tom Homan; Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.); Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.); Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa); Government Accountability Institute’s Peter Schweizer 

ABC’s “This Week:” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)

NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D); Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

CNN’s “State of the Union”:  Border czar Tom Homan and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo

CBS’s “Sunday Morning”: Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/5490296-sunday-shows-preview-congress-shutdown-trump-jobs-report/