OSF, Rockford Health System drop plans to merge

Online Staff Report

One week after a federal judge granted an injunction halting OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center’s proposed acquisition of Rockford Health System, the two health systems have decided to drop their plans for a merger.

The announcement came at 1:15 p.m., Thursday, April 12, in a joint news conference in the Funderburg Auditorium at Rockford Memorial Hospital.

The acquisition was challenged by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last fall on the grounds that a merger between the two systems would be anticompetitive and could result in higher costs for area residents. A hearing on the acquisition before an administrative law judge with the FTC was scheduled to begin April 17 in Washington, D.C.

Federal Judge Frederick J. Kapala issued a 45-page opinion on the case April 5 stating that the health systems were “restrained from acquiring each other’s assets or other interests and are directed to return all confidential information received directly or indirectly from one another.”

Kapala’s opinion also stated that the two health systems were to “maintain the status quo” until legal proceedings with the FTC were complete.

Posted April 12, 2012