More hospital mergers in first half of 2026, and momentum may continue

When it comes to hospital mergers, it’s becoming clear that 2026 isn’t going to be a repeat of last year.

There were 18 announced hospital mergers and acquisitions in the second quarter of 2026, according to data released by Kaufman Hall, a healthcare consulting firm. That’s more than twice as many deals as the eight transactions seen in the second quarter last year. And since 2020, only one year saw more second quarter deals (20 in 2023).

Kris Blohm, managing director and mergers & acquisitions practice co-leader at Kaufman Hall, tells Chief Healthcare Executive that the firm expects to see the steady pace continue throughout the year.

“We think that the numbers in both the first and second quarters signal ongoing momentum that we expect to see in the back half of the year as well, certainly coming off of some pent-up demand last year, where the numbers were perhaps the lowest as they've been,” Blohm says.

In the first quarter of 2026, there were 22 announced hospital mergers and acquisitions, according to Kaufman Hall. That was the biggest first quarter number since 2020, Kaufman Hall says.

In the first half of the year, there have been 40 hospital mergers and acquisitions, which approaches the number of hospital deals seen in all of 2025.

In 2025, there were 46 announced hospital mergers or acquisitions, which was the lowest number in 15 years.

Total transacted revenue across the deals in the second quarter of 2026 reached $7.7 billion, well above the $1.4 billion in the second quarter last year, Kaufman Hall says. However, that revenue lags behind the second quarter of 2023 and 2024.

Six of the 18 deals in the second quarter of 2026 involved an organization divesting properties.

Read more: Corewell Health CEO Tina Freese Decker on making a merger successful

‘An uptick in strategic activity’

In 2025, many health systems put the brakes on planned mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the first half of the year. Analysts say hospitals and health systems were pausing during the first months of President Trump’s second term to get a sense of his priorities.

“That first half of the year was marked by a bit of regulatory or maybe policy uncertainty,” Blohm says.

Health systems began making more deals, or at least engaging in more conversations, in the second half of 2025.

Now, Blohm sees a shift in more systems being ready to move forward in pursuing mergers or acquisitions.

“You saw an uptick in strategic activity,” he says. “A lot of that was happening behind the scenes, so you're really seeing that manifest in actual public announced or otherwise visible activity here in this first half.”

Health systems are being more strategic as they look ahead and plan for the future, Blohm suggests.

“We believe health systems are looking more proactively and deliberately at their strategic, financial, business, and even clinical positions, and they're not reacting to financial either pressure or dynamics … but rather looking forward at partnerships as a means to build capabilities and position themselves for longer-term sustainability,” he says.

Some hospitals may be considering mergers and acquisitions before they face more financial pressures with cuts in Medicaid programs that are expected in the coming years.

Blohm says funding pressures are a factor, but he sees health systems looking beyond those headwinds.

“They're taking a step back, macro picture, looking at where they have scale, where they have and should create differentiated value,” Blohm says.

And he says hospitals are asking: “Where should they own? Where should they partner? And in some cases, where is another organization better suited as a steward for a service line or a business, or better positioned to operate a certain portion of their business.”

Blohm expects health systems to look to continue focusing on investments in outpatient services.

“It’s less about adding beds and and facility and more about …. adding ambulatory capabilities, physician networks, even technology and specialized clinical services,” he says.

Read more: Banner Health and the University of Arizona: Lessons from their partnership

Others project more deals

Other analysts see a bigger appetite for healthcare mergers and acquisitions.

Joe Kight, head of healthcare for the U.S. Bank Institutional Client Group, told Chief Healthcare Executive in a recent interview that he sees a growing interest in healthcare mergers.

“We're starting to see more M&A consolidation in the healthcare space,” Kight says. “And I think that is on)ly going to accelerate.”

Carl Boccuti, head of commercial specialty banking leasing channels at TD Equipment Finance, told Chief Healthcare Executive® earlier this year that many health systems are placing a higher priority on keeping cash on hand. But he says some hospitals are weighing opportunities to make deals.

“While they're all cautious in terms of expansion mode, they realize there could be opportunities for some of the other not-so-financially stable players, potentially being an acquisition target for them,” Boccuti says.

Vince Vickers, a partner at KPMG, told Chief Healthcare Executive in a March interview that some health systems are increasingly leery of acquiring hospitals or systems that are struggling financially. Vickers says some systems are reluctant to acquire hospitals that are viewed as turnaround projects.

“Most of the organizations I'm working with, they don't want to buy distressed systems,” Vickers said in March. “They don't want to dilute their brand. They don't want to put in the level of work that it may require at those kinds of smaller systems.”

Blohm also sees health systems being more cautious about some of the deals they pursue.

“We're seeing both management teams and, by extension, of course, boards overseeing those management teams, be a lot more disciplined,” Blohm says. “I think there's also a realization that capital doesn't necessarily solve everything.”

Noteworthy deals

In one of the more interesting moves of the first half of the year, Quorum Health is planning to move from for-profit model to a nonprofit health system. QKA Health Corporation, doing business as Healthside Partners, is planning to acquire Quorum, which operates 11 hospitals in nine states.

Atrium Health, which is part of Advocate Health, is planning to join forces with WakeMed. Atrium has pledged $2 billion in investments in Wake County and vowed to create more than 3,000 jobs and expand care for 1 million North Carolina residents, but the deal has met with some criticism.

Sutter Health and Allina Health announced their plans in March to come together and form a 39-hospital system. In May, the two systems said that they have reached a definitive agreement on their plans to come together. Sutter is based in Sacramento, California, while Allina serves Minnesota and part of Wisconsin. Sutter Health has pledged to invest $2 billion in Allina’s market.

Sanford Health, which is based in South Dakota, and operates 58 hospitals across the upper Midwest, is looking to join forces with North Memorial Health, which operates two hospitals in Minnesota.