Dive Brief:
- One of the largest nonprofit health systems in New Jersey is aiming to get even larger by snapping up one of the last independent hospitals in the state.
- RWJBarnabas Health and Englewood Health have signed a definitive agreement in which Englewood will become part of RWJBarnabas, adding its flagship hospital and network of outpatient care sites and pushing RWJBarnabas, already a giant in New Jersey, deeper into the state’s northern counties.
- RWJBarnabas plans to invest approximately $500 million in Englewood as part of the acquisition, a spokesperson said. The deal is subject to regulatory approval but the systems expect it to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Dive Insight:
West Orange, New Jersey-based RWJBarnabas says it’s the largest academic health system in New Jersey, with 14 hospitals and more than 700 patient care locations — more outpatient sites but fewer hospitals than its largest nonprofit rival in the state, Hackensack Meridian Health.
RWJBarnabas will shrink that delta if its acquisition of Englewood goes through. The system includes one acute care hospital, along with a network of more than 100 medical clinics offering primary, specialty and urgent care in northern New Jersey.
As hospital operators contend with rising labor costs from worker shortages and increasing expenses for medical supplies, the industry has seen more incidences of large systems snapping up their smaller and less financially stable peers. That’s less the case here, as both RWJBarnabas and Englewood have recently enjoyed comfortable profits.
Englewood brought in $32 million in income in 2024, up from $12.2 million the year prior, according to the system’s most recent tax documents available. Meanwhile, RWJBarnabas brought in $851 million in the first nine months of 2025, up from $680 million in the same period in 2024.
Instead of rescuing a hospital from dire financial straits, the merger appears more targeted at shoring up the systems’ balance sheets and leverage combined economies of scale to make Englewood more efficient and expand its care delivery capabilities, officials suggested.
RWJBarnabas plans to invest $500 million over the coming years to expand Englewood’s operating rooms, renovate its neonatal intensive care unit and enhance its cancer services, a spokesperson for the system said.
The investments will also be targeted at increasing Englewood’s number of private beds and its ambulatory care capabilities.
“This transaction will ensure Englewood Health’s ability to deliver world-class care to the communities we serve in a broader way, with greater resources and more cutting-edge technologies,” Warren Geller, Englewood’s CEO, said in a statement on the deal. “Through this partnership and by combining resources, we will have the ability to greatly enhance the services we provide to our communities in a way in which we would not be able to accomplish alone.”
The deal is not yet final, and both RWJBarnabas and Englewood have seen deals with competitors fall apart in the past few years amid pushback from federal regulars.
Englewood planned to merge with Hackensack Meridian in 2019, but the systems dropped the plan after the Federal Trade Commission moved to block it in 2022. That same year, RWJBarnabas dropped plans to acquire Saint Peter’s Healthcare System after the FTC sued to stop the deal.
Still, New Jersey, like much of the U.S., has seen its hospital market become increasingly consolidated over the last decade. Systems have hustled to gain scale by purchasing rival hospitals and local physician’s offices to weather financial challenges that are expected to worsen as providers absorb cuts to federal healthcare funding from the Trump administration.
Hospitals argue the acquisitions are necessary to preserve healthcare access for patients in local communities. But research has shown corporate provider ownership is linked to decreased care quality and higher healthcare costs for patients.
