{"id":604,"date":"2026-05-20T13:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=604"},"modified":"2026-05-20T13:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:38:25","slug":"wakemed-defends-atrium-hospital-merger-plan-in-first-community-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=604","title":{"rendered":"WakeMed defends Atrium hospital merger plan in first community session"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday evening provided Triangle residents their first opportunity to ask WakeMed leaders about their desired merger with Charlotte-based Atrium Health.<\/p>\n

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This public forum, the first in a series of six hearings WakeMed has scheduled before the end of the month, drew a few dozen people \u2014 local officials and current WakeMed board members included \u2014 to the flagship WakeMed campus in East Raleigh.<\/p>\n

From the outset, WakeMed president and CEO Donald Gintzig disputed claims that the much larger Atrium was buying his health system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not, in spite of what you\u2019ve read in the media, a takeover, an acquisition, a sale, a buying, an apocalypse, or whatever you may hear,\u201d Gintzig said during opening remarks. \u201cWhat it is, is two like-minded organizations with similar histories and missions coming together for a greater good.\u201d<\/p>\n

On May 1, WakeMed and Atrium announced plans<\/a> to combine their health systems through an agreement that would see Atrium Health and its parent company, Advocate Health, invest $2 billion in WakeMed. This money, Gintzig said, is needed to improve WakeMed\u2019s main Raleigh hospital and expand additional facilities in Cary, Garner and North Raleigh.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also need access to capital, buildings, equipment, medicine, supplies, everything costs more,\u201d he said during a presentation that included a slide on how much smaller the independent WakeMed is than UNC, Duke and especially Atrium. \u201cSize and scope matter,\u201d text on the screen read. Atrium Health and WakeMed are both nonprofits. Advocate Health, which combined with Atrium in 2022, is currently the nation\u2019s third-largest nonprofit health system.<\/p>\n

WakeMed officials expected Wake County commissioners to sign off on the deal three days after it was announced, but community pushback over a perceived lack of public oversight caused commissioners to postpone their decision for 90 days.<\/p>\n

County officials must approve changes to the agreement that in 1997 allowed the county-owned Wake Medical Center to become a private nonprofit. If the county does eventually approve these changes, the merger would then need to withstand potential scrutiny from the North Carolina attorney general\u2019s office and the Federal Trade Commission.<\/p>\n

Critics, including State Treasurer Brad Briner, say hospital consolidation across the country has contributed to higher prices and worse services.<\/p>\n

Others, including State Auditor Dave Boliek, say even if the combination ultimately makes sense, the rush to bring it to Wake County commissioners raised questions. The proposal was announced late on a Friday afternoon. The commissioners\u2019 vote was scheduled to take place without discussion as an item on the consent agenda the following Monday.<\/p>\n

In a May 3 letter, State Employees Association of North Carolina executive director Ardis Watkins urged Wake County commissioners to either reject the deal or demand \u201cpublic listening sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe evidence is clear that when large health systems absorb independent or community hospitals, prices rise and competition disappears,\u201d Watkins wrote. Wake County delayed its decision the next day.<\/p>\n

Many of these pointed critiques were absent from Tuesday\u2019s initial listening session.<\/p>\n

Once Gintzig concluded his remarks, attendees broke into smaller groups where appointed facilitators heard inquiries about the potential merger and relayed them to the WakeMed CEO during a Q&A portion. Facilitators asked if the merged hospital system could create a for-profit division (Gintzig said the county-appointed board could protect against this) and whether Atrium\u2019s $2 billion investment would be enough to keep WakeMed from considering further consolidation.<\/p>\n

One facilitator asked Gintzig about reports that Atrium would have considerable control over the future WakeMed board of directors. Gintzig dismissed this with a joke, calling it \u201ca rumor started by the Russians or the North Koreans or somebody else who hasn\u2019t read the documents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the proposed merger, Atrium would appoint six members to WakeMed\u2019s 14-seat board of directors \u2014 a power WakeMed currently has. Wake County would continue to appoint the remaining eight seats. While Atrium wouldn\u2019t appoint a majority of board members, the Charlotte health system could appoint its members without county approval.<\/p>\n

The eight positions Wake County would continue to appoint would need approval from two-thirds of the entire board<\/a> \u2014 at least 10 of 14 directors. This means a Wake County appointee would require support from at least some Atrium-appointed members.<\/p>\n

Atrium could also remove Wake County\u2019s appointees at any time with \u201ccause,\u201d according to the articles.<\/p>\n

Mary Nash Rusher, a current WakeMed board member and partner at the law firm McGuireWoods, said the focus on board appointments emphasizes a division that doesn\u2019t actually exist in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know who is a county-appointee or a WakeMed-appointee,\u201d she told The News & Observer in an interview after the listening session. \u201cOur interactions are simply a board with a common mission and a common cause, and that\u2019s how we would anticipate it would continue to operate (under Atrium). Other than probably more insight being brought to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

WakeMed is holding the following meetings to provide information about a planned merger with Atrium Health and hear from residents.<\/p>\n

Read more Student brought loaded gun to East Wake High, Sheriff\u2019s Office says<\/a><\/p>\n

The meetings are in-person and begin at 6 p.m., unless otherwise noted.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WakeMed, Atrium Health merger public hearing in Raleigh, North Carolina brings community members to share concerns, hopes for healthcare system consolidation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWakeMed defends Atrium hospital merger plan in first community session - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=604\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WakeMed defends Atrium hospital merger plan in first community session - 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