A variety of moves in the past 12 months, both completed and unresolved, shaped the market and set the tone for dealmaking in 2025.
The hospital M&A market experienced a bit of a push-pull effect this year with increasing financial pressures motivating organizations to pursue transactions while ramped-up regulatory scrutiny created a more challenging environment to complete deals.
Activity is expected to be robust in 2025 as health systems continue to realign portfolios, turn to partnerships to help shoulder financial burden, and explore non-traditional, multi-organizational ventures.
Here's a look back at five deals involving hospitals and health systems that defined M&A this year.
Steward Health Care
It's impossible to tell the story of 2024 dealmaking without mentioning Steward Health Care's impact on the market.
The Dallas-based system filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and put all 31 of its U.S. hospitals up for sale in May, which led to a number of transactions taking place over the course of the year.
In the third quarter alone, Steward was involved in 11 of the 27 hospital M&A deals in the industry, according to a report by Kaufman Hall, including multiple facilities in Massachusetts switching hands.
General Catalyst and Summa Health
The year started with a big swing by General Catalyst, which made good on its promise to buy a health system by tabbing Summa Health for its business spinoff Health Assurance Transformation Corporation (HATCo).
The venture's stated goal of transforming healthcare by testing and implementing new technology was met with some skepticism within the industry, but Summa Health CEO Cliff Deveny and HATCo CEO Marc Harrison believe the partnership is a worthwhile attempt at pushing the bounds.
"We can't keep merging inefficient health systems into other health systems because then the problems just get compounded," Deveny told HealthLeaders.Top of Form
Risant Health and Cone Health
After completing its purchase of Geisinger Health, Risant Health once again dipped into the market by signing on to add Greensboro, North Carolina-based Cone Health to its value-based care network.
Kaiser Permanente's subsidiary said it was looking to acquire "four to five" more systems over the next half-decade following the Geisinger sale and with Cone, Risant can enter a new market while also operating a health plan.
Risant's next health system acquisition, which could come in 2025, is expected to have similar characteristics as Geisinger and Cone.
Longitude Health
One of the ventures that raised eyebrows this year was the formation of four nonprofit health systems to create a for-profit entity in Longitude Health.
Baylor Scott & White Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Novant Health, and Providence are teaming up to pool their resources and launch operating companies, initially focused on pharmaceutical development, care coordination, and billing.
While those three areas are in need of solutions, they're also filled with players that will provide stiff competition, according to Josh Berlin, CEO of strategic healthcare advisors rule of three.
Yale New Haven and Prospect
The seemingly never-ending saga between Yale New Haven Health and Prospect Medical Holdings is a prime example of how a deal can go sour after an agreement is reached.
After Yale New Haven agreed to buy three Connecticut hospitals from Prospect for $435 million in 2022, the two sides have been locked in a dispute over the conditions of the transaction that continues to play out in the public and in court.
If the parties can't meet in the middle to complete the deal soon, it could have negative effects on their strategic maneuverability, and more importantly, patient care.
Jay Asser is the CEO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
From major acquisitions to disputed sales, this year featured plenty of notable transactions that were indicative of where hospital M&A is trending.