Northwell Health and Nuvance Health have cleared the last regulatory hurdle in their proposed merger after receiving Certificate of Need approval from Connecticut's Office of Health Strategy, a spokesperson for the agency said Tuesday.
The two systems will follow terms outlined by New York's and Connecticut's attorneys general in August, including expansion of women’s health services through labor and delivery at Nuvance's Sharon (Connecticut) Hospital; preserving services and staffing at Nuvance's Putnam Hospital in Carmel Hamlet, New York, for one year; committing resources to a unified electronic health record system within three years; and negotiating reimbursement rates for Nuvance facilities in New York and Connecticut independently, according to a news release from Connecticut's Office of Health Strategy.
Related: State attorneys general sign off on Northwell-Nuvance deal
Northwell Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nuvance Health declined to comment on leadership changes or financial details of the merger.
In February 2024 New Hyde Park, New York-based Northwell announced plans to acquire Danbury, Connecticut-based Nuvance by the end of 2024, creating a system of 28 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites across New York and Connecticut.
Nuvance currently operates three hospitals in Connecticut and four hospitals in New York — all of which will become part of Northwell.
Additionally, Northwell Health is required to invest at least $1 billion across Nuvance hospitals in both states over the next five years. Any real estate sale-leaseback transactions are also prohibited for at least five years, according to the agreement.
In August, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) and New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D) said the anticompetitive effects of the merger would be minimal under the terms of the agreement, leading to their approval of the deal.
A Nuvance spokesperson said Tuesday the systems look to close the deal in the next 30 days.
