Dive Brief:
- Rhode Island's Care New England Health System and Southcoast Health System have agreed to terminate their merger agreement and are "parting on amicable terms."
- If the merger had been successfully completed, it would have been among New England's largest nonprofit health systems, according to WPRI.com.
- The health systems announced their plans to affiliate last November, though the report says, they had requested an expedited regulatory review but it was rejected by Rhode Island officials.
Dive Insight:
As more and more health systems across the U.S. make plans to consolidate, regulatory officials have kept vigilant eyes on pending mergers and acquisitions that would harm competition in the market, increase costs to consumers, among other concerns.
Their pending merger received criticism from the largest union of Care New England employees called SEIU District 1199NE, WPRI.com reported. The New England health systems then came to "recognize that their visions for the combined system could no longer be achieved."
"We believe that it is best for both parties to end affiliation discussions,” Jean MacCormack, chair of the Southcoast Health Board of Trustees, said in a statement.