Novant beats out Atrium, moves closer to $4.5 billion deal to buy NC hospital system
Novant Health is one step closer to sealing a $4.5-billion deal to purchase a Wilmington hospital system, beating out Charlotte rival Atrium Health for a crucial recommendation in the hospital bidding war.
The recommendation comes from the Wilmington hospital system’s advisory group, in a unanimous vote Thursday to support Novant’s bid.
The deal would follow other moves toward hospital consolidation across North Carolina and the country. In 2018, Charlotte-based Atrium Health announced plans to combine with Macon, Georgia-based Navicent Health.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center is a county-owned health system. The Novant bid includes an offer to purchase the health system from the county for $2 billion, according to the Wilmington hospital.
The deal also includes plans to invest more than $2.5 billion in improvements and services in the area, according to New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the Wilmington hospital system.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center put together a Partnership Advisory Group in October 2019 to consider bids for the health system.
The Partnership Advisory Group, a 21-member citizen panel, voted Thursday to recommend Novant’s bid to the health system. Novant was recommended over Charlotte’s largest hospital system, Atrium Health, and other health systems including Duke Health and UNC Health.
The recommendation will be presented to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center Board of Trustees on Tuesday for a vote, and to the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners on July 13.
New Hanover Regional Medical Center leaders and county officials have expressed support for the deal, but either board could still reject the plan in the July votes.
If the plan is approved, Novant intends to work with UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine to expand the Wilmington branch campus of the UNC School of Medicine and establish a new UNC Health Sciences campus in Wilmington, according to the advisory group.
“The population in this region is growing quickly and we need more services to ensure everyone has access to the best care when they need it,” vice co-chairman of the advisory group Bill Cameron said in a statement. “Novant Health and UNC Health have committed to working together to provide those services and they have the ability to do that.”
Consolidation concerns
Critics of hospital consolidations say the deals can lead to higher insurance premiums for patients as hospitals charge insurance companies higher prices.
Novant and Atrium have both seen groups of doctors break away in recent years, indicating small breaks with the consolidation trend nationwide.
A group of nearly 100 doctors split from Atrium Health in 2018, forming Tryon Medical Partners. And Tryon Medical announced plans to open its first clinic outside of Mecklenburg in 2019 with seven doctors splitting from CaroMont Medical Group.
A group of doctors followed in the footsteps of Tryon Medical Group, leaving Novant in 2019 for independent physician group Holston Medical. But many of those doctors recently announced plans to join Atrium Health, leaving independent practice.
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