News | October 10, 2025
Economic Lessons from the Novant Health CHS Drama
The abandoned transaction between Novant and Community Hospital System (CHS) for two North Carolina (NC) hospitals received substantial attention from the media, lawyers, and economists. Even though an initial district court ruling rejected FTC’s preliminary injunction request, a subsequent court decision pushed the parties to abandon the deal. This case was not a plain-vanilla deal. Some features made the antitrust discussion and the first instance ruling of particular interest, particularly for economic analysis of hospital mergers and considering deal-specific factors.