Two rival hospitals in Terre Haute, Indiana, pulled back their merger application Monday, just days before the state was due to rule on the deal amid growing backlash to such medical monopolies.
The proposed merger between Union Health and Terre Haute Regional Hospital, the only acute care hospitals in Vigo County, Indiana, would have left Terre Haute’s 58,000 residents and those in the surrounding region with a single hospital operator. Although federal laws prohibit monopolies, the hospitals sought the merger under a state provision known as a “Certificate of Public Advantage” law, or COPA.
“Recognizing the COPA process is a very complex, innovative approach to improving access and quality health care for area residents, we believe it is best to withdraw the current application,” Union Health said in a statement posted on its website.
Union said it plans to submit a new application after working with Indiana regulators to “ensure the benefits” such as “improved access, quality” are included.
The withdrawal came nine days before a Dec. 4 deadline for state regulators to rule on whether to OK the merger. In recent months, the state health agency had received a deluge of public comments from residents and the Federal Trade Commission opposed to the deal between Union Health, a nonprofit whose main hospital is licensed as a 341-bed facility, and the 278-bed Terre Haute Regional Hospital, owned by for-profit chain HCA Healthcare. The commenters cited concerns about longer travel times to get emergency care, higher prices, and fewer choices.
Union Health and HCA declined to answer q …