WellStar Health System has ended merger negotiations with Emory Healthcare. The board chairman of Marietta, Ga.-based WellStar said in a news release that the decision followed months of talks. The merger did not fit into WellStar's “new strategic direction,” Chairman Gary Miller said. Miller added that WellStar would look for other potential partners.
Emory released a statement saying it still believes the merger would benefit the two systems and the communities they serve. The deal, first announced in February, would have combined the two systems' largely separate markets under a jointly governed organization. WellStar's chief executive had lauded the potential deal as a “merger of equals.” Emory Healthcare's patient revenue totaled $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year. WellStar Health System ended its last fiscal year with $1.6 billion in patient revenue.
