Share Copy link Email LinkedIn X/Twitter Facebook Print North Carolina-based nonprofit health system WakeMed received — and declined — an unsolicited proposal from UNC Health to combine days after agreeing to merge with Atrium Health. The health system received the offer to partner with UNC Health on May 5, four days after Atrium and WakeMed publicly announced plans to merge, according to a WakeMed spokesperson. Under the deal, Atrium, which is a part of Advocate Health, would largely take control of WakeMed. WakeMed’s board of directors rejected UNC Health’s proposal after determining Atrium’s deal was in the best interest of the health system, the spokesperson said, adding that the UNC Health offer may have carried competitive concerns. UNC Health’s offer follows Atrium and WakeMed’s plans to merge. The deal would expand Atrium — which is headquartered in Charlotte,…

But the merger has faced pushback from local government officials, who say it could raise healthcare prices and lower the quality of care. Some were also alarmed by the deal’s timeline. Although WakeMed said in a statement Wednesday it spent two years evaluating the health system’s future, including potential partners, Wake County scheduled a vote to consider the deal three days after it was publicly announced. Those concerns eventually prompted the Wake County Board of Commissioners to delay the vote for 90 days, after officials said residents needed more time to consider the implications of the deal. However, UNC Health’s proposal also creates anticompetitive concerns. A merger between UNC Health and WakeMe would reduce the number of health systems in Wake County from three — WakeMed, UNC Health and Duke Health — to two.