Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Healthcare M&A, Market Shifts, and Policy Trends to Watch in 2026 with Alan Condon & Laura Dyrda

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Healthcare M&A, Market Shifts, and Policy Trends to Watch in 2026 with Alan Condon & Laura Dyrda · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:02
  The most important health care decisions don't happen
• 0:05
  in isolation.
• 0:06
  They happen when leaders come together.
• 0:08
  Becker's sixteenth annual meeting brings together more than
• 0:11
  3,500
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  hospital and health system executives this April in
• 0:15
  Chicago.
• 0:16
  With 800 speakers from Ascension,
• 0:18
  Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit and more, the conversations get
• 0:22
  real. Leaders will share how their scenario planning
• 0:24
  for policy shifts, breaking through value based care
• 0:27
  barriers, and building clinical teams that translate new
• 0:30
  ideas into real world care.
• 0:32
  Join top decision makers in the room April
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  13 through the sixteenth.
• 0:37
  For the agenda and event details, visit beckershospitalreview.com
• 0:41
  and click on the events tab in the
• 0:43
  upper right.
• 0:45
  This is Laura Dierda from the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast.
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  Today, I am here,
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  with Alan Condon, who's our editor in chief,
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  and we're going to talk a little bit
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  about some of the interesting things that are
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  happening in health care today, some of the
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  big timely and relevant changes as well as,
• 1:00
  you know, a few of the stories that
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  we're watching closely and we'll be continuing to
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  report on, over the next several months and
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  and through April, especially for our annual meeting.
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  I know, it's coming up here. We have
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  about 3,500
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  attendees planned,
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  more than 800 hospital health system leaders speaking.
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  And so it's really gonna be a great
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  time to connect and convene with, peers from
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  across the health care spectrum really to to
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  kinda talk about and troubleshoot some of these
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  issues. But,
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  with that, I I think, Alan, I wanna
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  turn it over to you. I I wanted
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  to ask, what are some of the stories
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  you're following most closely right now? How are
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  you seeing some of the biggest players in
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  the field really react and start off in
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  2026?
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  Yeah. Absolutely. And Allies on April annual meeting,
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  Laura. I know we're really looking forward to
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  moderating a few panels with myself, yourself, and
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  a few of our top editorial team members
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  as well in April.
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  So I think 2026,
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  huge, huge year. I think there's a lot
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  to to kind of focus in. But just
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  to narrow in on a couple of key
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  stories that we're paying close attention to,
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  Namely, just to start off with a couple
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  of key,
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  mergers and acquisitions that just got over the
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  line on the first of the year. There's
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  a couple interesting deals that I like to
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  kinda just shine a light on here. I
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  think first and foremost,
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  Mercy Health. That's the Mercy Health headquartered in
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  Rockford, Illinois
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  as opposed to the at the Saint Louis,
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  Missouri Mercy Health. But eight hospital system just
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  acquired
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  an independent hospital, a 100 bed hospital in
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  Freeport,
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  Illinois
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  on the January 1. I think this is
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  a an interesting deal that kind of came
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  about rather quickly when we think about the
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  the usual length of time that a merger
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  and acquisition gets over the line. Mercy has
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  reached our potential to grow its market share
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  with this acquisition, but also
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  to grow FHM, that's the independent hospital they
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  acquired, to grow its services, its workforce,
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  really invest in its own market share there
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  as well. So I think what's interesting here
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  is as the integration progresses over the couple
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  of months, the hospital has really entered a
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  pretty significant period of leadership transition.
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  It can be usual to see a few
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  leaders in and out when when transactions like
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  this get over the line, but
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  four really key top members of FHMC
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  suite
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  have left the hospital
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  as the hospital joins Mercy Health, and new
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  leaders are have yet to be announced to
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  come in,
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  at the moment. So those departures include the
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  CEO, the CFO,
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  the chief human resource director, and the chief
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  nursing officer slash chief operating officer. So key
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  key leadership,
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  real overhaul here, significant changes at the hospital
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  as it joins Mercy Health. And just a
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  quick background there, Mercy Health has now operates
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  seven hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin.
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  It recently closed one hospital in in Illinois
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  last year, and this is the first acquisition
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  it was made in quite some time.
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  But just to jump to our the second
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  transaction, I'd love to quickly call out here.
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  Just jumping over to Connecticut,
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  a ton of challenges in the Connecticut area
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  due to the bankruptcy filing early last year
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  of prostate medical holdings. So there's a really
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  kinda true the hospital
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  landscape up in the air in Connecticut as
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  the the attorney generals, the state officials, regulators
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  really look to work with some of those
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  health systems to make sure that some of
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  these hospitals owned by prospect didn't close. They
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  stayed open, maintained services, and and critical access
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  to care for community.
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  So one of the key acquisitions that just
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  got over the line as a result of
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  those bankruptcy proceedings,
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  Hartford HealthCare,
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  a fantastic academic health system, just completed its
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  acquisition of two of those prospect hospitals, a
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  240 bed hospital, a 109 bed hospital.
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  Again, acquired through those bankruptcy proceedings, which was
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  kind of a long,
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  complex undertaking, but they finally got it over
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  the line as of 01/01/2026.
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  Prospect still working to offload some of its
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  hospitals in certain markets, even outside of Connecticut
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  at the moment as it works its way
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  through those restructuring process.
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  But Hartford HealthCare seems to be in the
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  right hands.
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  Agreed with the Connecticut attorney general to
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  an agreement to limit cost growth at those
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  hospitals working to preserve competition as the state
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  really looks to avoid any potential similar
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  similar challenges as to what they state with
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  those hospitals under the private equity for profit
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  based health system and and and Prostate Medical.
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  So that acquisition, lastly, just takes two two
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  acute care hospitals under the Hartford HealthCare footprint,
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  taking it to a nine acute care hospital
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  system overall. So couple other deals closed over
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  January 1 to start the year, but two
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  two interesting ones that we've been following for
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  quite some time. I just like to call
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  out there, Laura.
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  Oh, yeah. Absolutely. That's fascinating. And, Alan, do
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  you anticipate there's going to be more transactions,
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  mergers, and acquisitions in the the first quarter
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  than we saw over the last few months?
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  Or
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  do you think the market's gonna settle down?
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  What do you foresee, for the first quarter,
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  2026?
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  Yeah. I think great question. I think something
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  that's definitely on the minds of,
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  c CEOs, CFOs really across the country. And
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  from conversations that I've had recently with House
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  with some possible leaders is they really expect
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  what we've seen in the in recent quarters,
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  the late the 2025,
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  to see that trend continue into 2026,
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  a little bit more of a ramp up
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  of hospital mergers and acquisitions.
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  We're seeing multiple types of deals, new strategic
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  partnerships,
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  cross market merger and acquisitions became a little
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  bit more of a prominent trend last year,
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  multistate deals. And I think just really driven
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  by when we think about
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  the ACA has enhanced expired, its subsidies expire
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  December 31. There may be a house filled
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  in down January yet to come. That's still
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  a little bit up in the air. But
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  I think the main challenges in terms of
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  a reimbursement environment are the one of the
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  most difficult reimbursement environments we've seen across the
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  board, impending Medicaid codes coming down the pipeline
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  at the end of the year, which all
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  hospital leaders will have their eyes on. I
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  think they're very, very challenging environment for
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  independent hospitals, state hospitals, those community hospitals in
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  particular,
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  along with the rural facilities, we're really looking
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  to see those strategic partners,
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  large health system partners. So I think those
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  are gonna be the key drivers that might
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  see some of these deals pick up steam,
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  in the coming quarters this year, Laura.
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  And that makes a ton of sense. Thank
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  you for the overview there, Alan. Now I
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  wanted to ask you too about some of
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  the biggest players in the field, especially HCA
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  Healthcare. I know there's been a lot of
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  movement with them recently, and so I wanted
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  to get your perspective. What's going on there,
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  and and what are you hearing from, the
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  health care leaders you speak with on a
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  daily basis?
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  Yeah. I think everyone has always got their
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  eyes on the the big for profit giants
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  or HCA. They're kinda, you know, fantastic, huge,
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  large house systems operating on multi multi markets.
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  I think both HCA and tenant really rounded
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  off 2025
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  with, I believe record stock prices in terms
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  of open the the the mid to $500
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  a share. In focusing in on HCA here,
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  it's really focusing this year on expansion efforts
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  in multiple states in which it operates. So
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  namely Tennessee,
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  North Carolina,
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  Virginia, three of the states where it's really
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  pumping, money into outpatient growth, potentially some hospitals,
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  some ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency departments, urgent
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  care centers, but,
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  really being met with significant pushback by some
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  of its nonprofit competitors
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  who operate,
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  and hold a significant market share in those
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  areas.
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  So I think in Tennessee, we've seen,
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  the Truvian Health, which is a
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  newly branded health system, which formed out of
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  an acquisition last year. They operate in Georgia
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  and Tennessee. They're pushing back quite substantially on
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  HCA's plans to open freestanding emergency department in
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  their market.
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  I think jumping down to Virginia where HCA
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  is a pretty prominent
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  market share in Central And And West Virginia,
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  big, big health system competitor, a rival in
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  Bonsignore
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  Mercy Health.
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  It's been an ongoing turf war in that
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  in that high rapid growth population kind of
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  area of the country. We've significant pushback in
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  on turf war from Bonta Care Mercy Health
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  as it as HCA looks to invest more
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  money in urgent care centers, freestanding emergency rooms,
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  and potentially,
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  a $21,000,000
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  ambulatory surgery center, really, which is
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  a signal that a little bit of concern
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  about the health when they think about a
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  big for profit giant coming in to potentially
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  take away from some of its market share.
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  And then lastly, Laura, I think just North
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  Carolina, it's been a state with HCA's Mission
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  Health in Ash Ville, specifically.
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  Huge, huge back and forth.
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  HCA and Advent Health have been challenging certificate
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  of need applications
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  by one another over the recent recent years,
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  really, and that's for for hospitals, for freestanding
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  emergency departments, for urgent care centers, ASCs.
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  Really
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  both system looking to curtail the other systems
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  growth in a really high population, rapid growth
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  part of the country as well in Western
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  North Carolina.
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  I think just really intensifying
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  turf wars in some of these key key
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  markets probably underscore a broader industry trend as
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  we see health systems expanding across state lines,
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  battles over certificate of need of applications, and
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  really becoming what looks like kind of flash
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  points for debates around market cost share, market
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  control,
• 10:11
  competition, and the patient access as well. So
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  couple of kind of key markets that'll be
• 10:16
  interesting to watch this year as it relates
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  to HCA and for profit giants looking to
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  kind of drive up some of their market
• 10:22
  share against some of these competitors on the
• 10:24
  nonprofit side.
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  But over to you, I think I know
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  on the other side of the spectrum, I
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  know you've been following quite closely a lot
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  of a lot
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  of key issues as it relates to rural
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  hospitals, namely the rural health transformation program.
• 10:38
  Anything kind of top of mind for you?
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  You've been have you been talking to leaders
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  this year, Laura?
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  Yeah. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Ellen.
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  And, you know, definitely 2026, hitting the ground
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  running with some of these policy updates and
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  especially looking at the rural health transformation fund.
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  That's the $50,000,000,000,
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  allocation from the federal government, which established the
• 10:56
  five year initiative
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  that would go to states. And so we
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  saw at the very end of the year,
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  December 29, CMS
• 11:06
  issued the awards, how much each state would
• 11:08
  be getting. And so, we've been following through
• 11:10
  on that, and and now the states have,
• 11:12
  the amount of their awards. And so across
• 11:14
  the board,
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  it'll vary by state how they decide to
• 11:18
  allocate those funds and how much each institution
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  gets.
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  I think, you know, we've been in contact
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  with several rural hospital leaders and and health
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  care leaders,
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  from a variety of states, and our responses
• 11:30
  to how they're gonna allocate it run from
• 11:32
  you know, we have not decided that yet.
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  We have not gotten, you know, final approval
• 11:36
  for our plan,
• 11:38
  to, you know, some very specific ideas and
• 11:40
  approvals from the federal government on how different
• 11:43
  states can begin to start that process. And
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  so, a few things that I can mention
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  here.
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  For example, New York said that they are
• 11:51
  still in negotiation with CMS on the budget,
• 11:54
  so most hospitals there in a holding pattern
• 11:57
  that potentially could benefit.
• 11:58
  But the State Hospital Association is keeping them
• 12:00
  updated.
• 12:01
  Similarly, in South Carolina,
• 12:03
  I heard from a hospital CEO that,
• 12:07
  Medicaid will administer the funds. They got approval
• 12:10
  for their state Medicaid to do that since,
• 12:12
  they had experience doing so and and really
• 12:15
  being able to
• 12:16
  provide that information. This particular
• 12:19
  hospital CEO said he hadn't,
• 12:21
  decided or the state hadn't decided how they
• 12:23
  were going to allocate the funds, but has
• 12:25
  been in contact with hospital leaders,
• 12:27
  and share more information,
• 12:30
  about what their plans to do in that
• 12:32
  would be. This particular leader said he was
• 12:34
  hoping that some of those funds would be
• 12:36
  able to help them bridge the gap in
• 12:38
  maternal and OB care and some of the
• 12:40
  communities that don't have access to it currently,
• 12:43
  which would definitely be a relief, I am
• 12:45
  sure, to some of those folks who really
• 12:47
  need that type of care.
• 12:49
  In Oregon, facilities have been working to apply
• 12:51
  for the funds, and I'm surveying,
• 12:53
  the needs of rural hospital and health system
• 12:56
  leaders, to move that forward. And then interestingly,
• 13:00
  we heard from a a leader in Illinois
• 13:02
  that talked about,
• 13:03
  you know, not exactly sure how all the
• 13:05
  funds would be allocated, but,
• 13:07
  they did know that the Illinois Critical Access
• 13:10
  Network would be able to administer a portion
• 13:12
  of those funds,
• 13:14
  because, again, the association
• 13:16
  had
• 13:17
  experience administering
• 13:19
  grants in funding, and so already had infrastructure
• 13:22
  in place to be able to take applications
• 13:24
  and decide what would make the most sense.
• 13:25
  And so I think from my perspective,
• 13:28
  you know, it's a lot out there that
• 13:30
  really has yet to be decided, but we'll
• 13:33
  definitely make sure that we are following the
• 13:35
  story, continue to stay posted, and share ideas
• 13:37
  in in how different,
• 13:39
  role leaders and and states are making these
• 13:42
  decisions and then getting, you know, the the
• 13:44
  funds out to the right people, as quickly
• 13:47
  as possible.
• 13:48
  Several folks reminded me that these funds didn't
• 13:50
  necessarily have to go to hospitals and health
• 13:52
  systems, and so it's important for,
• 13:54
  executives and leaders to stay in touch with
• 13:56
  their, legislators and the state associations and those
• 13:59
  who are making these decisions so that they
• 14:01
  can advocate for these funds to be used
• 14:04
  in a ways that are most beneficial to
• 14:06
  the rural communities and patients that,
• 14:09
  they were
• 14:10
  dedicated to. So,
• 14:12
  that's what we're seeing today with the Rural
• 14:14
  Health Transformation Fund, and thank you so much,
• 14:16
  Alan, for being here with us. Look forward
• 14:18
  to staying connected and, seeing many, many of
• 14:22
  the leaders listening here today at our annual
• 14:24
  meeting in April.
• 14:25
  Fantastic. Thank you so much, Laura. Looking forward
• 14:27
  to