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SALT LAKE CITY – A merger previously hailed as a “match made in heaven” has fallen out of favor as Sanford Health indefinitely suspended conversations with Intermountain Healthcare on Friday.
According to a press release from Intermountain Healthcare, the move comes following the departure of Kelby Krabbenhoft, president and CEO of Sanford Health. Due to the change in leadership, Sanford has decided to put the ongoing M&A activity on hold while she discusses changes within the business.
Krabbenhoft resigned in November after sending a controversial email to employees saying he would not wear a mask after recovering from the coronavirus.
Krabbenhoft told employees he believed he was immune to COVID-19 “for at least seven months and possibly years to come.” The former CEO added that he was not a threat to transmit COVID-19 and that wearing a mask was for appearances, according to the Associated Press.
“For me, wearing a mask defies the effectiveness and purpose of a mask and sends a false message that I am susceptible to infection or that I could pass it on,” according to the email obtained by the AP in November. “I have no interest in using the masks as a symbolic gesture. … My team and I have a duty to express the truth and the facts and the reality and not to harbor the contrary.”
Intermountain Healthcare’s plans to merge with Sanford Health were an effort to create a “model” in the United States and improve health outcomes across the West.
Intermountain Healthcare CEO Dr Marc Harrison said the two systems that were both founded by religious groups – Intermountain by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Sanford by Lutherans – were “A match made in heaven”.
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of collaboration between health care systems, Harrison noted, as Intermountain has worked with the University of Utah Health to fight COVID-19.
“We are disappointed but understand that the recent change in leadership at Sanford Health has influenced their priorities,” said Dr Marc Harrison, President and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare in the press release on Friday. “There is a lot to admire in the work that Sanford Health has done. We continue to share a strong vision for the future of healthcare.
Contributing: Ashley Imlay
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