SUNY Upstate Medical College will not proceed with its planned acquisition of Crouse Health System, citing economic and operational obstacles to the industry.
Upstate Medical College is based in Syracuse, New York in April announced plans to acquire neighboring Crouse Hospital. The combination will allow the financially troubled Crouse to maintain services and enhance clinical training opportunities for both hospitals, according to the certificate of need and public grant application filed with the state. state.
Those July filings protected organizations from federal antitrust scrutiny in exchange for prolonged state scrutiny. However, the Federal Trade Commission in October recommended that the state oppose the deal, argued that prices would increase, competition would decrease, and employee wages would decrease as the combined institution would have a market share of nearly 67% in commercial insured patient services in Onondaga County.
Upstate president Dr Mantosh Dewan said in a statement on Thursday that headwinds in the industry “make acquisitions impractical at this time. If circumstances change, He said the two systems will “consider modifying and resubmitting applications”.
In lieu of an acquisition, the systems said they would pursue a strategic alignment, but continue to operate as independent entities with their own governance structures. The organizations said in a statement that the link “will provide a structure for joint initiatives on critical patient services, education programs for healthcare providers, and health care providers.” health and provide a platform for future initiatives.”
The FTC has pushed for the repeal of the COPA law, arguing that states are not equipped to oversee hospital mergers.
