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Wake County commissioners have been tight-lipped for months on the proposed merger of WakeMed and Atrium Health.
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Now a county spokesperson says county attorneys have been meeting with WakeMed’s attorneys — in discussions not open to the public — to negotiate parts of the merger proposal.
Because WakeMed’s origins trace back to a time when the hospital was county-owned, the deal cannot proceed without sign-off from the board of commissioners.
County spokesperson Dara Demi said the vote on those changes will not happen at the commissioners’ next meeting on Sept. 8, and she did not give another date for the vote.
When the merger was initially announced, it seemed as though the county would only play a cursory role in the merger’s approval process before it moved to state and federal officials for review. The item was placed on the commissioners’ consent agenda, which is usually reserved for non-controversial items that are all approved in a single vote. After public outcry, the commissioners moved it off the consent agenda.
Since then, WakeMed has held numerous community forums on the proposal. Wake County held its own public hearing in August and had a work session with WakeMed earlier in the summer.
In the work session, commissioners asked questions about the merger. And at one community meeting, Commissioner Vickie Adamson told the public that she was unable to view the actual documents detailing the merger agreement between Atrium and WakeMed.
But the commissioners have kept many of their specific concerns and opinions on the proposal quiet.
The N&O reached out to every commissioner on Wednesday and Friday, and only Adamson responded.
She said via text on Friday she “will be giving interviews after the vote” on WakeMed’s altered articles of incorporation and added that she’s still doing research.
When Gov. Josh Stein’s office asked a series of questions of WakeMed about the proposal in August, WakeMed’s response included new details about ongoing negotiations.
Perhaps most important, Stein’s office asked where a promised $2 billion investment from Atrium would come from. WakeMed CEO Donald Gintzig responded that some — if not all — would actually come from WakeMed.
Stein’s office also asked about the governance structure of WakeMed under the proposed merger.
WakeMed has a 14-member board of directors. Commissioners currently appoint eight of those directors. Under the agreement, Wake County’s appointees would remain at eight but would have to come from a slate of nominees approved by two-thirds of the WakeMed board — nine of the 14 members. Atrium’s six appointees face no such nomination process.
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The governor’s office brought up an issue that opponents of the deal have continually cited — the proposal would allow Atrium to remove Wake County’s appointed board members for certain causes, “including lack of collegiality.”
“We have heard the community’s concerns about governance structure loud and clear, and we have made significant changes which align with the current governance of WakeMed,” Gintzig said in the response to the letter.
Gintzig said the revised articles will ensure that any removal of a Wake County appointee — with or without cause — requires the approval of two-thirds of the voting board of directors, according to the letter.
Currently public documents show that a board member may be removed with both sufficient cause and a majority vote of the board.
County spokesperson Demi said the county has “engaged in numerous discussions and negotiations” with WakeMed and Atrium on various parts of the deal, including ensuring access to healthcare for those who can’t afford it, controlling healthcare costs and maintaining local control.
“Those discussions have resulted and continue to result in a number of changes to both legal documents to address some of the Board’s concerns,” Demi wrote in an email to The N&O on Thursday. Demi added that the plan is to make the updated legal documents available only after they’re finalized.
The process for negotiating these changes was not public.
The N&O asked Demi if commissioners were meeting in closed session with county attorneys to discuss the merger.
She did not directly answer that question, but said “the discussions and negotiations between attorneys for Wake County, WakeMed and Atrium Health are happening in Microsoft Teams meetings and on phone calls.”
She sent The N&O a copy of state statute on public meetings rules for county officials.
They’re allowed to meet in closed session to discuss:
The county has argued that it can’t disclose confidential “competitive” healthcare information that is a part of the merger deal.
According to state statute, competitive healthcare information constitutes but is not limited to, “contracts entered into by or on behalf of a public hospital or public hospital authority to purchase a medical practice.”
And public officials are specifically prohibited from sharing competitive health care information given to them under state law.
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This story was originally published September 4, 2026 at 3:36 PM.