Sixteen hospital and health system deals were announced in the third quarter of 2026, involving sellers with a combined $8.2 billion in annual revenue, according to Kaufman Hall's third-quarter hospital M&A report. At the same time, about 43% of hospitals are operating at a loss, compared with about 33% before the pandemic, according to Kaufman Hall's latest flash report as cited by Fierce Healthcare.
The $8.2 billion figure measures the yearly revenue of the organizations being acquired or merged, not the price paid for them. The average seller brought in $586 million a year, up from $401 million in the same quarter of 2025, a sign that larger systems are now combining.
