ACM clears merger between hospitals Bronovo and Medisch Centrum Haaglanden

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has cleared the merger between hospital groups Medisch Centrum Haaglanden (MCH) and Bronovo in The Hague. In the post-merger situation, health insurers will continue to have enough opportunities to make arrangements with hospitals that are beneficial to their clients. And patients will continue to have enough options with regard to hospital care.

After the merger, two large hospital combinations will be active in the The Hague area: Haga/Reinier de Graaf Group and the new combination Bronovo/MCH. Both of these groups have several hospital locations in or near The Hague. In addition to these hospitals, a high number of care treatment centers are active in the The Hague area, too. These centers usually offer specialist treatments such as orthopedics, dermatology, and ophthalmology. Furthermore, patients in and near The Hague are also able to go to other hospitals in, for example, the city of Leiden. So patients will continue to have enough options.

A majority of health insurers believes the merger will not have any negative effects, because they continue to be able to negotiate successfully about price and health care quality with the different hospitals. The patient advisory councils of both Bronovo and MCH are positive about the merger.

Chris Fonteijn, Chairman of the Board of ACM, reacts: ‘All things considered, I believe that this merger offers the hospitals opportunities to improve health care quality, while consumers will continue to have enough options to get the care that they want.’

ACM sets great store to the opinions of patient associations and health insurers, and it has carefully weighed all of the different arguments. ACM’s method of assessing mergers and collaborations in the health care industry is explained in the document ‘Assessing mergers and collaborations in hospital care,’ which can be found on ACM’s website.