Two Knoxville hospital groups plan to merge

The deal would bring together St. Mary’s Health System and Baptist Health System.

‘If, after due diligence, both parties agree to move forward, we believe that the residents of East Tennessee will greatly benefit from the merger of these two long-standing, faith-based health care systems,’ St. Mary’s president and CEO Debra London, and Baptist acting CEO Janice James said in a joint statement.

They said the merger ‘will result in a more efficient, effective and competitive system, better able to meet the needs of all members of the communities we serve.’

The hospital systems have been in talks since June. St. Mary’s was among the original suitors for Baptist, which has been struggling with debt and ongoing operating losses.

Baptist operates four hospitals and seven senior health centers. St. Mary’s operates four hospitals, two health care centers and a senior residential complex.

The deal, which is expected to close by Jan. 1 pending various hospital and regulatory approvals, would consolidate the systems’ health care services under one company led by St. Mary’s.

A new board would be created, reporting directly to St. Mary’s parent company Catholic Healthcare Partners of Cincinnati.

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NEW YORK (AP) ‘ U.S. home prices fell 3.2 percent in the second quarter, the steepest rate of decline since Standard & Poor’s began its nationwide housing index in 1987, the research group has announced.

The decline in home prices around the nation shows no evidence of a market recovery anytime soon, one of the architects of the index said.

MacroMarkets LLC Chief Economist Robert Shiller said the declining residential real estate market ‘shows no signs of slowing down.’

The report came a day after the National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes dropped for a fifth straight month in July while the number of unsold homes shot up to a record level.