Signed and Scrubbed: February 2025 hospital M&A, bankruptcy list

Welcome back to Signed and Scrubbed, a monthly roundup of hospital deals and bankruptcies.

With consistent M&As between hospitals and ongoing financial challenges leading to bankruptcies, Healthcare Brew is here to keep you in the loop.

In our second edition, we’ve compiled news we took note of in February 2025. Here’s the rundown.

The Bellevue Hospital. On Feb. 5, the 50-bed not-for-profit Bellevue Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, announced plans for Firelands Health to acquire the facility after it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The hospital was facing challenges “common to rural and independent US hospitals,” according to a press release from Sandusky, Ohio-based health system Firelands, including high operational costs, regulatory complexity, and difficulty accessing capital.

HCA Healthcare. Nashville-based HCA, one of the biggest hospital systems in the US with 186 facilities, completed its purchase of Florida’s Lehigh Regional Medical Center on Feb. 27. Leigh Regional was previously owned by Ontario, California-based Prime Healthcare. Jyric Sims, president of HCA Healthcare West Florida Division, said in a release that the deal is a “complimentary addition” to the system’s 17 hospitals in the area.

Houston Healthcare. On Feb. 10, Houston Healthcare, a 282-bed, formerly independent not-for-profit health system based in Warner Robins and Perry, Georgia, finalized a definitive agreement and filed regulatory approvals to join Emory Healthcare, one of Georgia’s largest health systems.

Jackson Hospital. Montgomery, Alabama-based Jackson Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Montgomery Advertiser reported on Feb. 4. Labor costs, low reimbursement rates, a difficult payer mix, and persistent issues from Covid-19 were among the reasons the 344-bed not-for-profit hospital faced financial trouble. The hospital was also affected by the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, and a hospital exec reportedly said the bankruptcy will give it “breathing room” to secure the hospital’s future, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Yale New Haven. After over two years of negotiations, Yale New Haven said a $435 million deal to buy three Connecticut hospitals from California-based Prospect Medical Holdings now seems “impossible,” the Hartford Business Journal (HBJ) reported on Feb. 25. Prospect filed for bankruptcy at the end of January, and Yale New Haven reportedly said the deal wouldn’t work because of “Prospect’s failure over several years to pay vendors and state and local taxes and to fund their pension obligations,” according to the HBJ. Prospect is also looking to sell its hospitals in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.