Catholic Health Initiatives, Dignity Health in Merger Talks
25 October 2016 - 6:40AM
Dow Jones News
Hospital operator Catholic Health Initiatives, which has
struggled after rapid expansion and a foray into health insurance,
is in merger talks with Dignity Health to create one of the
nation's largest nonprofit hospital system by revenue.
Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health said in a
statement they are in talks regarding "aligning their
organizations." A person familiar with the matter said the talks
involve a merger.
The deal would combine 103 hospitals owned by Catholic Health
Initiatives, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., with 39 hospitals
operated by San Francisco-based Dignity Health. Combined revenue
for the new organization would reach $27.8 billion annually, based
on the most recent financial statements.
The proposed union is the latest mega-merger among U.S. hospital
operators, both nonprofit and publicly traded. It comes as
antitrust regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of such
deals.
Catholic Health Initiatives operates in 18 states, but not in
Arizona, California and Nevada, where Dignity Health operates its
hospitals.
"The potential to align the strengths of these two organizations
will allow us to play a far more significant role in transforming
health care in this country," Catholic Health Initiatives Chief
Executive Officer Kevin Lofton said in the joint statement
announcing the talks, which were reported earlier by trade magazine
Modern Healthcare.
Write to Melanie Evans at Melanie.Evans@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 24, 2016 15:25 ET (19:25 GMT)
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