An ongoing procession of large-scale health system dealmaking continued through the third quarter and is becoming the dominant merger and acquisition trend for 2026, according to a recent report.

Per healthcare advisory firm Kaufman Hall, which is part of Vizient, the year’s third quarter hosted 16 newly announced hospital transactions, comprising $8.2 billion in total transacted revenue. Both of those are roughly in line with recent years and remain higher than pre-pandemic historical averages, the firm wrote.

The standout was two newly announced “mega mergers” in which the smaller party had annual revenue exceeding $1 billion—Erlanger Health System plus Prisma Health, and HealthPartners plus Essentia Health—as well as “several transactions that fell just shy of the $1 billion threshold,” according to the report.

Kaufman Hall noted that this is the third straight quarter in which multiple mega mergers were announced. That scale also led to an average seller size of $586 million in the quarter, well above Q3 2025’s $401 million and more closely outpacing Q3 2024’s $559 million.

"Year-to-date activity suggests 2026 is on track to become the most active year for hospital and health system transactions since the start of the pandemic," said Kris Blohm, managing director and M&A Practice co-leader at Kaufman Hall. "The continued prevalence of larger transactions demonstrates that many organizations are pursuing strategic partnerships from positions of strength as they prepare for the next phase of healthcare transformation."

Such dealmaking reflects hospitals and health systems’ interest in “proactive repositioning,” or strategic moves organizations are taking in preparation for macroeconomic pressures and other operating headwinds like reduced government payments and coverage.

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