{"id":837299,"date":"2026-09-05T11:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/837299\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T11:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T11:40:16","slug":"why-officials-have-been-negotiating-wakemed-merger-privately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/837299\/","title":{"rendered":"Why officials have been negotiating WakeMed merger privately"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WakeMed<\/p>\n

WakeMed Raleigh campus in Raleigh, N.C., photographed Tuesday, May 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

Ethan Hyman<\/p>\n

ehyman@newsobserver.com<\/p>\n

Wake County commissioners have been tight-lipped for months on the proposed merger of WakeMed and Atrium Health.<\/p>\n

Now a county spokesperson says county attorneys have been meeting with WakeMed\u2019s attorneys \u2014 in discussions not open to the public \u2014 to negotiate parts of the merger proposal.<\/p>\n

Because WakeMed\u2019s origins trace back to a time when the hospital was county-owned, the deal cannot proceed without sign-off from the board of commissioners.<\/p>\n

County spokesperson Dara Demi said the vote on those changes will not happen at the commissioners\u2019 next meeting on Sept. 8, and she did not give another date for the vote.<\/p>\n

When the merger was initially announced, it seemed as though the county would only play a cursory role in the merger\u2019s approval process before it moved to state and federal officials for review. The item was placed on the commissioners\u2019 consent agenda, which is usually reserved for non-controversial items that are all approved in a single vote. After public outcry, the commissioners moved it off the consent agenda.<\/p>\n

Since then, WakeMed has held numerous community forums on the proposal. Wake County held its own public hearing<\/a> in August and had a work session with WakeMed earlier in the summer.<\/p>\n

\"People People participate in a group discussion during a community forum held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, in Raleigh, N.C. about the proposed WakeMed and Atrium merger. Kaitlin McKeown kmckeown@newsobserver.com <\/p>\n

In the work session, commissioners asked questions about the merger. And at one community meeting, Commissioner Vickie Adamson told the public that she was unable to view the actual documents<\/a> detailing the merger agreement between Atrium and WakeMed.<\/p>\n

But the commissioners have kept many of their specific concerns and opinions on the proposal quiet.<\/p>\n

The N&O reached out to every commissioner on Wednesday and Friday, and only Adamson responded.<\/p>\n

She said via text on Friday she \u201cwill be giving interviews after the vote\u201d on WakeMed\u2019s altered articles of incorporation and added that she\u2019s still doing research.<\/p>\n

\"Opponents Opponents of a proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health display their opposition, prior to the Wake County Commissioners meeting on Monday, July 6, 2026 in Raleigh, N.C. Robert Willett rwillett@newsobserver.com The negotiated changes<\/p>\n

When Gov. Josh Stein\u2019s office asked a series of questions of WakeMed about the proposal in August, WakeMed\u2019s response included new details about ongoing negotiations.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most important, Stein\u2019s office asked where a promised $2 billion investment from Atrium would come from. WakeMed CEO Donald Gintzig responded that some \u2014 if not all \u2014 would actually come from WakeMed.<\/p>\n

Stein\u2019s office also asked about the governance structure of WakeMed under the proposed merger.<\/p>\n

WakeMed has a 14-member board of directors. Commissioners currently appoint eight of those directors. Under the agreement, Wake County\u2019s appointees would remain at eight but would have to come from a slate of nominees approved by two-thirds of the WakeMed board \u2014 nine of the 14 members. Atrium\u2019s six appointees face no such nomination process.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s office brought up an issue that opponents of the deal have continually cited \u2014 the proposal would allow Atrium to remove Wake County\u2019s appointed board members for certain causes, \u201cincluding lack of collegiality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have heard the community\u2019s concerns about governance structure loud and clear, and we have made significant changes which align with the current governance of WakeMed,\u201d Gintzig said in the response to the letter.<\/p>\n

Gintzig said the revised articles will ensure that any removal of a Wake County appointee \u2014 with or without cause \u2014 requires the approval of two-thirds of the voting board of directors, according to the letter.<\/p>\n

Currently public documents show that a board member may be removed with both sufficient cause and a majority vote of the board.<\/p>\n

\"Thad Thad McDonald, MD, WakeMed Board of Directors Chair, waits to speak during a media briefing at WakeMed in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 5, 2026, about the proposed merger of WakeMed Health and Atrium Health. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com Where have the negotiations happened?<\/p>\n

County spokesperson Demi said the county has \u201cengaged in numerous discussions and negotiations\u201d with WakeMed and Atrium on various parts of the deal, including ensuring access to healthcare for those who can\u2019t afford it, controlling healthcare costs and maintaining local control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose discussions have resulted and continue to result in a number of changes to both legal documents to address some of the Board\u2019s concerns,\u201d Demi wrote in an email to The N&O on Thursday. Demi added that the plan is to make the updated legal documents available only after they\u2019re finalized.<\/p>\n

The process for negotiating these changes was not public.<\/p>\n

The N&O asked Demi if commissioners were meeting in closed session with county attorneys to discuss the merger.<\/p>\n

She did not directly answer that question, but said \u201cthe discussions and negotiations between attorneys for Wake County, WakeMed and Atrium Health are happening in Microsoft Teams meetings and on phone calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sent The N&O a copy of state statute on public meetings rules for county officials.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re allowed to meet in closed session to discuss:<\/p>\n

Confidential information under state lawMatters relating to the location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the areaBuying or leasing landEmployee conduct and contractsAnd to consult with their attorney, though state statute says that \u201cGeneral policy\u201d matters can\u2019t be discussed in closed session and an attorney can\u2019t be present as a mere excuse for holding a closed session<\/p>\n

The county has argued that it can\u2019t disclose confidential \u201ccompetitive\u201d healthcare information that is a part of the merger deal.<\/p>\n

According to state statute,<\/a> competitive healthcare information constitutes but is not limited to, \u201ccontracts entered into by or on behalf of a public hospital or public hospital authority to purchase a medical practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And public officials are specifically prohibited from sharing competitive health care information given to them under state law.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published September 4, 2026 at 3:36 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WakeMed Raleigh campus in Raleigh, N.C., photographed Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com Wake County commissioners have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-837299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}