Ascension Health and Providence St. Joseph in Mega Hospital Merger

Joseph Health is talking about merging with another health system, potentially creating the largest healthcare provider in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal.

At the time of the mid-2016 link-up, the combined Providence St. Joe had 43 hospitals.

If consummated, the deal between nonprofits Ascension, based in St. Louis, and Providence St. Joseph Health, which is based in Renton, Washington, would result in an entity with 191 hospitals in 27 states and annual revenue of about $44.8 billion. Both the firms have hospitals in Washington as well as Texas.

The reports said that although the two companies have talked for months, this merger is not assured of coming to fruition, said those close to the matter. Barak Richman, a law professor at Duke University, said his commentary for the Wall Street Journal following the CVS-Aetna deal that a vertical merger wouldn't likely increase price for consumers. This would top HCA Healthcare, the country's largest hospital operator, which owns 177 hospitals and reported $41.5 billion in revenue previous year.

According to experts, the healthcare industry has been experiencing a plethora of mergers & acquisitions and joint ventures over the last few years.

Ascension and Providence did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Industry analysts are of the view that Providence is determined to expand its hospital network beyond the West Coast, where the firm already handles the healthcare activities of almost fifty hospitals in the region. The remaining 40% of hospitals in the US are for-profits or government-owned.