For-profit and nonprofit mergers: concerns and outcomes.

This article examines whether merger with an investor-owned chain is beneficial to nonprofit hospitals. Drawing on the experience of Lovelace Medical Foundation, a hospital-based group practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in its merger with the Hospital Corporation of America, this article describes the uncertainty that accompanies a merger, elucidates specific concerns of nonprofit hospitals about loss of autonomy to a large corporation, and sets guidelines for making sure most anticipated fears fail to materialize as a result of premerger planning.