Hackensack Meridian Health and Englewood Health have given up their fight against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and dropped their plans for a merger.
The proposed deal, first announced in late 2019, would have placed three of Bergen County, New Jersey’s six inpatient general acute care hospitals under the control of the state’s largest healthcare system.
At the time of its announcement, Hackensack Meridian Health said it would invest over $400 million into Englewood Health to make it a tertiary academic hub for the region.
The FTC's successful resistance to the merger could impact further hospital consolidation, as other organizations might consider the likely objections to potential merger plans.
The boards of Englewood Healthcare Foundation, which owns the Englewood hospital, and Hackensack Meridian Health each voted at the end of March to terminate the merger agreement. The organizations then notified the FTC April 5 that they had "jointly agreed to terminate their merger agreement and abandoned" Hackensack Meridian Health's proposed acquisition of Englewood.
"We firmly believe this merger was in the best interest of our patients and the community at large. Given the Appellate Court's decision, the board and leadership of Hackensack Meridian Health have decided not to pursue the merger," a spokesperson at Hackensack Meridian Health said in an emailed statement.
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