Prisma Health will not acquire three hospitals and a free-standing emergency department from LifePoint Health as previously agreed upon, the two companied announced Friday.
Last March, the organizations entered an agreement for Prisma Health-Midlands to acquire KershawHealth, a single-hospital system in Camden, S.C., and Providence Health, a two-hospital system based in Columbia, S.C., from LifePoint.
In January, Prisma CEO Mark O'Halla said the deal faced a legal challenge related to the health system's certificate of public advantage, a tool South Carolina leaders are using to regulate the merger that formed Prisma and provided federal antitrust immunity. O'Halla didn't share much detail, but said the legal challenge is currently before an appellate court. He said the health system has requested that its appeal go straight to the Supreme Court for a fast resolution.
"While both parties anticipated that the acquisition would have a complex regulatory path, significant delays and challenges with the Federal Trade Commission and state regulatory authorities have made it prohibitive to move forward," the organizations said in a press release.
Not-for-profit Prisma Health is based in Greenville, S.C., and has18 hospitals and more than 300 outpatient sites. Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint is the result of a merger with RCCH HealthCare Partners and is owned by Apollo Global Management. The company owns and operates hospitals, health systems, physician practices, outpatient centers and post-acute facilities across the country.
South Carolina's health department updated Prisma's COPA in February 2020 to account for the addition of the KershawHealth and Providence Health assets. That prompted a legal challenge from Lexington Medical Center and others, who argued the COPA could not be amended. Instead, the complaint said a new COPA would have to be issued, Prisma spokesperson Sandy Dees wrote in an email.
