Two West Virginia hospitals work toward merger

Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital has initiated talks to acquire its crosstown competitor, St. Mary’s Medical Center.

The not-for-profit hospitals are still operating independently, as executives are in the “initial steps of a process” that

they hope will merge the two entities, according to a joint statement.

The 303-bed Cabell Huntington Hospital and 375-bed St. Mary’s Medical Center are the only two acute-care facilities in Huntington, which sits near the Ohio border and is West Virginia’s second-largest city, with about 49,000 residents.

In its fiscal 2013, which ended last September, Cabell Huntington recorded a $13.5 million operating surplus and a $32.8 million total surplus on nearly $420 million in revenue. St. Mary’s Medical Center’s latest financial data, from 2012, showed the hospital had a $13.3 million overall surplus with $380.7 million in revenue.