(The Center Square) – An injunction sought by the Federal Trade Commission has been granted, and Carolinas health care giant Novant says it will discontinue pursuit of Lake Normal Regional Medical Center and Davis Regional Psychiatric Hospital.
Both are in the Lake Norman area near Charlotte.
The $320 million transaction was opposed by 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judges DeAndrea Gist Benjamin and Stephanie Thacker and supported by Judge Harvie Wilkinson in the 2-1 decision. The FTC request was previously denied by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell.
Novant Health bills itself as a nonprofit with 19 medical centers, more than 2,000 physicians and better than 850 locations in North Carolina and South Carolina. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, the provider’s 2023 statistics include 175,554 surgeries; 602,590 emergency room visits; and 6.8 million physician clinic visits.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell, active in the battle against rising costs in the industry, was grateful for the decision and said Lake Norman area consumers were protected.
“High medical and pharmaceutical costs are pushing the State Health Plan to the brink of insolvency,” he said. “Requests for additional funding from the legislature have gone unanswered with the plan expected to fall below minimal reserves as early as 2025.
“It is now time for hospital executives, their boards, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, and the North Carolina General Assembly to do their jobs. Hospitals need to put patients over profits and Stein needs to protect consumers from the hospital cartel. These mergers aren’t Democrat or Republican. They are immoral.”