The two organizations made the joint decision to no longer pursue the sale of two Saint Francis hospitals following the FTC's move to block it in November.
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced Wednesday that the two organizations have made the joint decision to call off the sale of two of Tenet's Saint Francis hospitals.
The initial deal included the sale of Memphis-based Saint Francis Hospital, Bartlett-based Saint Francis Hospital, six MedPost urgent care centers, and physician practices affiliated with the two hospitals, to Methodist, which was first announced in December 2019.
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made a move to block Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare's $350 million acquisition due to antitrust concerns.
The FTC stated that if the acquisition were to go through, "healthcare costs will rise, and the incentive to expand service offerings, invest in technology, improve access to care, and focus on quality of health care provided in the Memphis area will diminish."
CEOs from Methodist Le Bonheur and Saint Francis Healthcare released statements Wednesday morning regarding the decision.
Statement from Michael Ugwueke, CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare:
“Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Tenet have made the decision to continue to operate MLH and Saint Francis hospitals as separate health entities.
With the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent decision to ask a court to block the sale of the transaction, we would prefer to focus on continuing our commitment to provide compassionate and high quality care to patients rather than costly and protracted litigation that would have lasted at least 18 months and distracted from our core mission.
We continue to believe that the proposed acquisition of Saint Francis hospitals and its associated properties would improve healthcare delivery for residents of Memphis, Bartlett and the surrounding communities, including enhancing access to care, cutting-edge medical technology and the highest quality physicians and staff.
We appreciate the broad support of the proposed transaction from the community, including from leading local health plans, physicians, employers and community leaders who believed that the two organizations together would have had an even greater impact on the care delivered to the communities we are privileged to serve.”
Statement from Sally Hurt-Deitch, CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare:
“We have determined that the best course for both organizations is to continue serving our communities independently. While we will no longer bring our hospitals together with Methodist Le Bonheur, we continue as neighbors, both contributing to a positive community impact. This decision maintains our ability to provide excellent care to our patients, and doesn’t change – or compromise in any way – our longstanding promise to enhance access to care, cutting-edge medical technology and the highest quality physicians and staff. Looking ahead, we remain focused on serving the areas of greatest need as anchors of compassionate care in our communities."
After the decision was announced, the FTC issued a statement.
Statement from Daniel Francis, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition:
"This is great news for patients in the Memphis area. The FTC voted unanimously to challenge this hospital transaction because it would have eliminated competition between two of only four hospital providers and left patients worse off as a result. That outcome has been avoided. I’m grateful not only to the Bureau’s staff—whose work for consumers across the country has continued at a record pace despite the COVID-19 pandemic—but also to our partners in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, who joined our litigation and worked closely with us to secure this result."
This story has been updated with comment from the FTC.
Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.