Becker's Healthcare December 30, 2025
Cross-market mergers — transactions between health systems operating in separate geographic regions — are becoming a more prominent trend in hospital consolidation as organizations continue to shift toward multiregion operating models.
Over the past year, several large systems have pursued cross-market deals to gain scale, diversify risk and strengthen payer negotiations, often in lieu of same-market mergers that face heightened antitrust scrutiny.
While these transactions typically do not eliminate local competition for patients, they are reshaping how health systems think about growth, leverage and long-term sustainability.
Scale without direct patient overlap
By definition, cross-market mergers involve health systems that operate in distinct geographic areas and serve separate patient populations. Because the hospitals do not directly compete for the same...
Today's Sponsors
Today's Sponsor