Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem say the Federal Trade Commission has no economic or factual basis to continue challenging a proposed merger between the two systems.
In a brief filed in a federal appeals court, the two Chicago-area health systems defended a lower court's rejection of the FTC's proposed geographic market and said there was no reason to overturn the decision.
U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso refused in June to grant the FTC a preliminary injunction to halt Advocate's and NorthShore's proposed merger, saying the agency had not shown that it would likely win the case on its merits and rejecting the proposed geographic market. The FTC has to establish an appropriate market in order to move forward with its antitrust challenge.
Advocate and NorthShore maintain the FTC left out their most likely competitor—Northwestern Memorial Hospital—and several others when it narrowed the 70-hospital Chicago metropolitan area down to an 11-hospital “North Shore area.” The FTC has appealed Alonso's decision. Oral arguments are scheduled for Aug. 19.
