Healthcare mergers and acquisitions are in no short supply as providers, health tech companies, retailers and other industry players look to expand their businesses and gain a competitive edge. Here’s a roundup of new deals that were revealed, closed, rumored or called off during the month of October.
Provider
Samaritan Health Services will join MultiCare Health System under an affiliation deal approved by their boards. The deal would create an 18-hospital nonprofit system with more than $7.5 billion in revenue and give MultiCare an acute-care foothold in Oregon. The organizations expect to close their combination midway through 2026.
Garnet Health and Montefiore Health System have signed a letter of intent to explore a 13-hospital combination. The New York nonprofits said they could reach a definitive agreement to affiliate by the end of the year, a merger they said would help create “a stronger, more sustainable healthcare network” for their communities.
Hartford HealthCare’s $86.1 million bid for two Connecticut hospitals has been accepted by Prospect Medical Holdings and a bankruptcy judge. Hartford’s stalking horse bid was the only offer Prospect received by its deadline. The purchase will bump Hurtford up to a total of nine acute care hospitals. The facilities, Manchester Memorial and Rockville General, had also been at the heart of a legal dispute between Prospect and Yale New Haven Health that was recently settled.
UPMC and Trinity Health System, a three-hospital entity owned by CommonSpirit Health, have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to pursue an integration. Potential terms were not disclosed, though an agreement would be notable for granting UPMC a foothold in Trinity’s home market of Ohio.
Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo), a subsidiary of venture capital firm General Catalyst, wrapped its acquisition of Ohio nonprofit Summa Health. The deal underwent a lengthy regulatory review, which ultimately increased the sale price to $515 million and led to other expanded commitments. Summa Health reported $2 billion in total revenue, and employs more than 8,500 people across two acute care hospital campuses, 15 community medical centers, a rehab hospital, a health insurance arm, a multispecialty group practice and a research and medical education program.
Community Health Systems announced multiple divestments near the tail-end of the month. The first involves a definite agreement to offload Commonwealth Health, a three-hospital subsidiary in Pennsylvania, to affiliates of turnaround nonprofit Tenor Health Foundation, for an undisclosed sum. The other is a $600 million sale of the for-profit’s 80% stake in the 270-bed Tennova Healthcare – Clarksville and other ancillary businesses to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which held the remaining equity via joint ventures. Executives said these deals and other sources of free cash flow would help fuel growth and quality investments across the rest of Community Health Systems’ networks.
Heritage Valley Health System has signed an affiliation agreement that will bring the $535 million integrated delivery network under Allegheny Health Network, which is part of Highmark Health. The arrangement will install Allegheny Health Network as the sole corporate member of Heritage Valley and will bring a 10-year commitment to service, facility and IT investments.
Atlantic Health and Saint Peter’s Healthcare System have called off their plans to merge, a deal announced in early 2024 that would have created a system of more than $5 billion in annual revenue. The New Jersey organizations said the decision was mutual and cited sweeping changes in the national healthcare landscape.
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System has joined Sanford Health. The former is a rural system in South Dakota and Minnesota with about 800 employees and 81 acute care hospital beds.
York Hospital, a 79-bed independent nonprofit hospital, signed a letter of intent to join MaineHealth. The organization said the merger may take more than a year to complete amid necessary regulatory approvals and will see a consolidation of nonclinical staff. It pointed to higher supply expenses and other financial challenges for its decision to find a partner.
Washington Regional Medical Center entered into a deal to assume operations of Physicians’ Specialty Hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The transaction will become effective Dec. 1 and was framed by Washington Regional as a strategic expansion.
UC San Diego Health and Palomar Health received approval from their governance boards to form a joint powers authority, a partnership that, among other efforts, will facilitate the development of a comprehensive cancer center.
OneOncology, a physician management platform, closed a deal to acquire GenesisCare USA of Florida, a practice of more than 100 specialty physicians providing care at 104 Floridian clinics. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Acton Medical Associates, a 45-provider primary care group in Massachusetts, is being acquired by Atrius Health, a subsidiary of the UnitedHealth Group's Optum. The deal is subject to approval by state regulators.
Payer
NeueHealth, formerly Bright Health Group, has closed a $1.5 billion sale to New Enterprise Associates that takes the insurtech private. The company had raised nearly a billion dollars when it went public in 2021 but has since faced a series of financial challenges. New Enterprise Associates had already owned 60% of the company when the transaction was announced earlier this year.
Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield is reportedly exploring a “strategic affiliation agreement” with nonprofit insurer Cambia Health Solutions. The potential deal is described as neither a merger nor an acquisition, but would retain local governance.
Retail
CVS Pharmacy has wrapped its purchase of 63 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drug Stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. CVS also picked up the prescription files for 626 former Rite Aid and Bartell locations in 15 states, which together means the company will now be serving more than 9 million former Rite Aid and Bartell customers. CVS secured court approval to buy the stores and files in May after Rite Aid had filed for bankruptcy protection.
Tech
Thermo Fisher Scientific announced plans to acquire clinical trial software vendor Clario from its private equity ownership team for roughly $9 billion. The deal is expected to close by the middle of next year and would provide the life science giant with software used to support roughly 70% of FDA drug approvals over the last decade.
Qualtrics, a private equity-owned customer survey software maker, will invest $6.75 billion to acquire healthcare market research firm Press Ganey Forsta. The arrangement would combine Qualtrics’ AI with Press Ganey’s data, benchmarking and healthcare expertise to develop new tools and services. Press Ganey’s owners would be paid through a combination of cash and equity, and the deal is expected to close in the coming months.
Waystar, a healthcare payment software maker, finalized its $1.25 billion acquisition of AI revenue cycle management company Iodine Software. The deal signed in late July was funded with a 50-50 mix of cash and stock consideration, and is expected to be immediately accretive to gross margin and adjusted EBITDA margin, and accretive to revenue growth and non-GAAP net income per diluted share in 2027.
Machinify, a healthcare data company, closed a $670 million acquisition of healthcare payment integrity company Performant Healthcare. The deal will help Machinify expand its AI-powered healthcare payments platform to a broader range of organizations, including government programs. Machinify’s platform is currently deployed by over 75 health plans representing more than 170 million lives.
R1, a revenue cycle vendor for providers, entered an agreement to acquire AI inpatient coding and clinical documentation improvement company Phare Health. Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed. R1 said the pickup will help advance its push to bring AI and automation into the revenue cycle process and closes the distance on real-time adjudication of medical claims.
OnMed, a health kiosk maker, has shared a nonbinding letter of intent to merge with Berto Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that paves the way to the public stock exchange.
Samsung Electronics wrapped its deal to acquire Providence digital health spinout Xealth. Unveiled in July, the pickup aims to push Samsung deeper into healthcare with integrated data from the company’s wearables and other devices. Xealth’s platform currently reaches more than 500 U.S. hospitals and over 70 digital health solution partners.
Talkspace, a virtual mental healthcare provider, acquired AI social health and peer support platform Wisdo Health. Talkspace plans to integrate the tool to “support a more holistic approach to mental health for all populations,” and to drive seamless referrals to Talkspace when appropriate. Financial terms were not disclosed.
DocGo, a mobile health services, remote patient monitoring and ambulance services platform, has acquired virtual care platform SteadyMD. The transaction is expected to be funded with existing cash, though a price tag was not disclosed. SteadyMD is expected to generate about $25 million in revenue in 2025 and be EBITDA positive for 2026.
AVIA, which offers a network of digital health tools for provider partners, acquired Panda Health, whose business focuses on digital health peer input and market intelligence. Financial terms were not disclosed, though the joint organization now has a reach spanning more than three-quarters of the country’s health systems and over 7,000 vendors.
Intention Healthcare, a home and community-based care organization affiliated with Essen Health Care, acquired the technology and key assets of caregiver virtual care and care coordination services company Vesta Healthcare. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Ouma Health, a maternal health telemedicine firm, acquired in-person care provider Sunny Day Maternal-Fetal Medicine and other clinical assets of Boston Maternal-Fetal Medicine. The deal expands Ouma’s offerings from strictly virtual to hybrid care. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Miscellaneous
Chartis, a healthcare advisory firm, acquired IT and operations consultant Healthlink Advisors. The latter includes more than five dozen advisory professionals who will join Chartis’ digital and technology transformation business and eventually operate under the Chartis brand. Terms were not disclosed.