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Lessons Learned in Mergers and Acquisitions

2011; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 27; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/01974520-201104000-00004

2475-2797

Julie S. Manas,

Healthcare Policy and Management

In the corporate, for-profit world, companies merge, go bankrupt, change owners, and restructure on a daily basis, but when this happens within healthcare, it tends to make front-page news. Despite multiple mergers and acquisitions occurring every year, we're still relative novices when it comes to such changes compared to our Wall Street counterparts. In the feature articles, Zuckerman and Rice offer clear guidance to assist facilities embarking on their own acquisition or merger journeys and provide a solid template for success. My first experience with a hospital merger occurred when I was in grade school in the 1970s, a time when this type of activity rarely occurred. My small Iowa hometown of 25,000 had two competing hospitals, each dating back to the early part of the century. One hospital was Catholic, the other Lutheran. A group of interested businessmen, led by my father, formed a committee to study the possibility of combining the facilities. Because of the controversial nature of their deliberations, the committee met in hotel rooms each week to keep the public from learning what they were doing. After several years, consolidation was recommended and, although it initially met much resistance, it ultimately was embraced by the community. Now, nearly 40 years later, the institution has become a robust, successful regional referral center. Of course, not every acquisition or merger story has a happy ending. In my more than 25 years of healthcare leadership experience, I've been a part of many mergers and acquisitions and have seen things go well—or not so well. I offer the following lessons learned for any organization considering such a venture.