FTC Obtains Court Approval of Divestiture of Saltzer Medical Group by Idaho-based St. Luke’s Health System

A federal court has approved the divestiture of Saltzer Medical Group from Idaho-based St. Luke’s Health System as a result of the Federal Trade Commission’s successful challenge of St. Luke’s acquisition of Saltzer.

The order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho follows a December 2015 order requiring a divestiture trustee to negotiate a divestiture of Saltzer and reestablish Saltzer as an independent provider of adult primary care services in the Nampa, Idaho, area. Change Healthcare, a Nashville, Tennessee, healthcare management company and subsidiary of McKesson, Inc., will manage and operate Saltzer as an independent primary care medical practice. The divestiture will help restore competition in the market for adult primary care services in the Nampa, Idaho, area.

In 2013, the FTC and the Idaho Office of the Attorney General challenged the acquisition as anticompetitive. The U.S. District Court in the District of Idaho held that the acquisition violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act and the Idaho Competition Act by creating a single dominant group of adult primary care physicians for patients living near Nampa, Idaho. In January 2014, the court ordered St. Luke’s to fully divest itself of Saltzer’s physicians and assets, and in February 2015, that ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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