Advocate, NorthShore hospital merger on hold
A federal judge approved a motion Friday by state and federal authorities to put the Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem merger on hold.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois attorney general together asked the court to place the merger on hold while the court considers its appeal to stop the marriage of the hospital systems. Otherwise, the hospitals were expected to move forward with their merger even before the appeal takes place, they argued.
However, the hospitals remain unflappable.
“Today's decision was an expected part of the appeal process. We remain confident that our merger is in the best interest of consumers. We look forward to a quick resolution,” said Lisa Lesniak, an Advocate spokeswoman.
On Tuesday, U.S. Northern District Court Judge Jorge Alonso gave the green light to the health systems to move ahead with their merger. Then the next day, the FTC and attorney general filed a motion to appeal as well as a temporary injunction to stop the merger before the court matters are settled.
Advocate and NorthShore announced their intentions to merge in September 2014. After a 15-month review, the FTC opposed the merger in December 2015, alleging the proposed merger would reduce hospital competition and increase prices for consumers.
The court documents said they would operate more than 50 percent of the general acute care inpatient hospital services. The FTC argued that consumers could face possible rising health care costs, while the system would have less incentive to upgrade services and improve quality.