Aurora Decides Against Merger With SynergyHealth

Interesting.

Aurora Health Care has dropped its bid to persuade SynergyHealth, the parent of St. Joseph’s Hospital near West Bend, to join the Aurora system.

The decision comes two days before SynergyHealth’s board is scheduled to decide among competing offers from Aurora and two other health care systems.

Columbia St. Mary’s and Froedtert & Community Health, which plan to combine their operations in a partnership, and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare also hope to align with SynergyHealth.

In a letter dated Monday, Nick Turkal, Aurora’s chief executive officer, said Aurora was withdrawing its offer to affiliate with SynergyHealth. The letter was addressed to Thomas Johnson, chairman of SynergyHealth’s board, and to Gregory Banaszynski, its chief executive.