The 5 Biggest Healthcare Mergers That Haven’t Finalized Yet

The healthcare sector has seen an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the wake of the pandemic, reflecting the industry’s ongoing trend toward consolidation to streamline care delivery, expand reach, and strengthen financial stability.

Multiple health system mergers have been finalized this year, while others are still in talks or awaiting regulatory approval at the state and federal levels.

Here are five healthcare mergers still in the works:

1. Sioux Falls, SD-based Sanford Health and Marshfield (Wisconsin) Clinic Health System signed a nonbinding agreement July 10 to combine into a system of 56 hospitals with more than 56,000 employees, including 4,300 providers. The merger is expected to close by the end of the year, subject to regulatory processes and closing approvals.

2. Northwell Health, based in New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Nuvance Health, based in Danbury, Conn., plan to merge into a 28-hospital system. The attorneys general of New York and Connecticut approved the deal in August, but the merger is pending approval from the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy before it can be finalized.

3. Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania Health System and Doylestown (Pa.) Health signed a definitive agreement in August to make Doylestown part of Penn Medicine. Pending final federal and state approvals, the systems aim to integrate clinical care and operations by early 2025.

4. Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health signed a definitive agreement in May to merge into one health system called OHSU Health. The combined system would include 12 hospitals. Leaders of both systems said they are working to ensure a smooth transition and effective operational integration planning, pending regulatory approval.

5. The University of Texas System plans to merge UT Health San Antonio and the University of Texas at San Antonio to create a unified institution in 2025. UT Health has said its goal is to become a global public research institution with comprehensive academic and health research centers like the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of California at Los Angeles.