Baptist-Trover hospital merger another example of trend

Though the proposed merger of Saint Joseph Health System, University Hospital and Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare has grabbed recent headlines, another merger is under way, with Baptist Healthcare System hoping to expand its reach to Western Kentucky with the acquisition of Trover Health System in Madisonville.

"There's a lot of territory . . . and certainly Trover fits a geographic hole that Baptist has in the western part of the state," said Andy Sears, vice president of planning and development for the Louisville-based Baptist system.

Trover is made up of a 390-bed regional medical center and several clinics, resulting in the company having seven locations in six counties, reports Patrick Howington for The Courier-Journal.

"With reimbursements from government health plans set to tighten under health-care reforms, experts say stand-alone hospitals will have more difficulty keeping up than larger systems, which can spread costs and have more purchasing power," Howington reports.

During the first nine months of 2011, there were 71 deals involving 132 hospitals and totaling $6.9 billion, according to Sanford Steever, editor of Health Care M&A Report. (Read more)

To read more about hospitals merging nationwide, click here.