The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the "potentially illegal integration" of two New Orleans area hospitals, a news release said.
Louisiana Children's Medical Center (LCMC) and HCA Healthcare, Inc. violated federal law by finalizing the $150 million acquisition without disclosing it to U.S. antitrust authorities and without adhering to the required waiting period, according to the FTC, which filed a lawsuit to prevent Louisiana Children's Medical Center from integrating three rival hospitals in the New Orleans area that it recently acquired.
"We are seeking to hold LCMC accountable for disregarding the law by ignoring filing requirements and prematurely consummating their deal," FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. "Businesses that believe they can flout the law should be on notice: We will use the full scope of our authority to combat obstruction and to vindicate the FTC’s authority to investigate potentially illegal deals.”
In a petition submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FTC requests a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction requiring LCMC and HCA to adhere to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act, that LCMC hold the three acquired hospitals and related assets apart from its current hospital system while the FTC investigates the transaction and that LCMC notify the FTC in advance of certain transactions while the court handles other matters, the news release said.
A network of six hospitals in the greater New Orleans area are run by the nonprofit organization LCMC, which has its headquarters in New Orleans. On Jan. 3, LCMC declared that it had successfully acquired the three other hospitals in the region from HCA, a national operator of healthcare facilities based in Tennessee – Tulane Medical Center, Lakeview Hospital and Lakeside Hospital.
The $150 million value of LCMC’s acquisition from HCA "exceeded the size threshold that, given the size of the parties, required the deal to be reported to federal antitrust agencies," the news release said. "Despite that, the agency said, LCMC and HCA consummated the transaction on Jan. 3 without ever reporting it to the agencies."
