Mass. hospital system continues efforts to buy community hospital

The Boston Globe: Steward Bringing Lowell Hospital Into Fold
Steward Health Care System yesterday unveiled its second deal in four days to buy a Massachusetts community hospital, saying it had signed a letter of intent to purchase Saints Medical Center in Lowell and convert it to a for-profit institution. But before the ink was dry, the president of a group representing about 40 primary care doctors and 160 specialists affiliated with Saints said he opposed the alliance with Steward. And the chief executive of rival Lowell General Hospital, which lost out in the bidding for Saints, said he would challenge the deal as state regulators review the proposed sale (Weisman, 4/5).

And, in other hospital market news:

Kaiser Health News: Hospitals And Insurers Face Growing Antitrust Scrutiny
Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby, working in collaboration with The Washington Post, reports: "Amid growing concern about rising health care costs, the Department of Justice is stepping up efforts against hospitals and insurers it believes are illegally blocking competitors" (Appleby, 4/5).