NY hospitals look to combine, forming a giant

The proposed merger would bring together NYU Langone Medical Center, a highly specialized academic medical center, and Continuum Health Partners, a network of several community-oriented hospitals, including Beth Israel and the two St. Luke's-Roosevelt campuses. It would create one of the largest healthcare systems in the city, one that would have immense market power under the new federal health care system, and put pressure on independent medical practices, insurance companies and even rival medical schools, which may have to find other places to train their students.