TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Nov 17, 2020

The Federal Trade Commission last week authorized a suit in federal court to block a proposed $350 million acquisition of two Memphis-based Saint Francis hospitals by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. According to the Daily Memphian, the complaint says the acquisition would reduce competition for a range of medical treatments, ultimately leading to higher health care costs and less incentives to expand services and improve quality of care. Attorney General Herbert Slatery agreed with the FTC’s take on the transaction and today announced his office would join the commission in its challenge. “We recognize and respect Methodist’s significant contributions to the Memphis community, but we believe the proposed acquisition would simply give it too much power over the Memphis healthcare market and eliminate incentives to continue to improve quality, expand service, increase access, and recruit the best doctors,” Slatery said in the statement. Read the full release on the AG’s website.