Appeals court blocks Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PinnacleHealth merger
In 40-plus page decision, federal court says lower court erred in ruling, merger would hurt market competition.
A federal appeals court thas reversed a lower court ruling and ordered a preliminary injunction against the proposed Penn State Hershey Medical Center-PinnacleHealth System system merger.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia voted in favor of the injunction, which reversed a May decision by a federal judge, saying the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Pennsylvania officials would likely be successful in showing the merger could cause price hikes for patients and would harm competition, according to the decision.
The injunction will allow the FTC to further review the proposed merger, would mean the combined system would garner support 76 percent of the population around Harrisburg.
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The FTC filed suit to block the merger in December.
"The FTC is very pleased with today's ruling from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that we have a likelihood of success on the merits. We look forward to proving our case," said Debbie Feinstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, in a statement.
"We are disappointed by the Court's ruling. Over the next several days the leadership and respective boards of both organizations will carefully review the decision, and together we will determine our next course of action," PinnacleHealth said in a statement.
Penn State Hershey is located in Hershey, PA and houses 551-beds. PinnacleHealth encompases three hospitals, two in Harrisburg and one in nearby Mechanicsburg, with a total of 636 beds.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
