Presbyterian Healthcare Services' chief executive avoided directly addressing merger speculation at an Albuquerque business meeting Wednesday, following the collapse of a major deal two years ago. "No updates. ... Our focus is on us. Our focus is on New Mexico. Our focus is on 2025," Dr. Rishi Sikka, the Presbyterian CEO, told a group of business leaders at the Economic Forum of Albuquerque. The response follows a blown deal between Presbyterian Healthcare Services and Iowa-based UnityPoint Health — which disintegrated in 2023 for reasons the state's largest health system has not disclosed. Presbyterian executives had promoted the deal as a cost-cutting and efficiency-improving move that would've created an $11 billion conglomerate.
