Dive Brief:
- A proposed merger of Yale-New Haven Health System and Lawrence + Memorial Healthcare is facing pushback from employees at both hospitals concerned the deal will harm patient care, the New Haven Register reports.
- At a public hearing Monday, skeptics accused hospital executives of putting financial gain first and demanded transparency on how $300 million that Yale promised for Lawrence + Memorial would be spent.
- A second hearing is planned for hospital officials and the public to cross-examine each other.
Dive Insight:
The proposed affiliation has the support of local officials. During the hearing, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp pointed to the “strong relationship” between the city and Yale-New Haven, and stressed the hospital’s role in education and job creation.
With the changing healthcare environment and uncertainty over state resources, the merger also helps to strengthen both hospitals, she said.
Teamsters Local 443, which represents workers at several area hospitals, including one operated by Yale-New Haven, and a nurses and allied professionals union also support the deal.
The announcement continues a wave of merger activity in the healthcare sector, most recently with a nonbinding agreement between NYU Langone Medical Center and Winthrop-University Hospital.
According to Kaufman Hall, the number of hospital mergers, acquisitions and partnerships grew by 18% between 2014 and 2015. In all, there were 112 deals in 2015, up from 95 in 2014 and just 66 in 2010.