UPMC reaches deal to acquire Ohio hospitals from CommonSpirit Health

The UPMC Health System is poised to move into Ohio with its latest deal.

UPMC has reached an agreement with CommonSpirit Health to acquire the Trinity Health System, based in Steubenville, Ohio. The two nonprofit health systems announced the deal this week.

Regulators must approve the deal, but UPMC and CommonSpirit both say that they hope to conclude the transaction in the fall. The financial terms of the deal haven’t been released.

Trinity Health operates four hospitals and a host of other facilities in eastern Ohio. UPMC and CommonSpirit signed a nonbinding letter of intent on a transfer of ownership last year.

Based in Pittsburgh, UPMC operates more than 40 hospitals and 800 other healthcare locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Assuming the deal is finalized, UPMC would expand its footprint into nearby eastern Ohio, which is close to the system’s home base in western Pennsylvania.

Leslie Davis, president and CEO of UPMC, expressed optimism about the prospect of bringing Trinity into the system.

“At the heart of this integration is the enduring commitment of both teams to deliver compassionate, high-quality clinical care and exceptional community services to the Ohio Valley,” Davis said in a statement. “We appreciate CommonSpirit Health’s thoughtful diligence in choosing UPMC for the transfer of Trinity Health System. We look forward to a bright future ahead for our patients and community.”

Dwayne Richardson, interim president of Trinity Health System, praised UPMC for its commitment to serving “the most vulnerable members of our community.”

“UPMC’s proven track record of community service and compassionate approach to care were key factors in our decision, and will significantly benefit our patients,” Richardson said in a statement.

UPMC, Pennsylvania’s largest health system, boasts more than 4 million covered lives in its health insurance plans.

The system has also partnered with GoHealth Urgent Care to operate 81 urgent care locations in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. UPMC also acquired the Washington Health System, which operates two western Pennsylvania hospitals, in 2024.

UPMC reported $35 billion in revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, and in March, Fitch Ratings raised its outlook from “negative” to “stable.” Fitch pointed to UPMC’s efforts to reduce costs and improved performance in its health insurance division.

In recent years, CommonSpirit Health has moved to divest some hospitals in states with more challenging markets as the Catholic health system looks to improve its financial performance. In January, CommonSpirit announced that it is exploring the potential sale of three North Dakota hospitals to the Altru Health System.

CommonSpirit also said in February that it was selling its partial stake in Conifer Health Solutions, a revenue cycle management service firm, back to Tenet Healthcare, which assumes full ownership of the company.

CommonSpirit has demonstrated better financial performance in 2025 and 2024 after a couple of rough years, Fitch Ratings wrote in a September 2025 report.

“CommonSpirit garners a leading or a near-leading market share in many of its key markets, most of which are competitive with strong regional providers. The system has experienced growth and expansion in Colorado, Arizona and the Pacific Northwest in recent years, and remains focused on stabilizing its Texas (South) operations,” Fitch

In 2023, CommonSpirit did acquire five hospitals in Utah, a state seeing strong growth.

CommonSpirit operates 158 hospitals in 24 states.

In the first quarter of 2026, there were 22 announced hospital mergers and acquisitions, according to data compiled by Kaufman Hall, a healthcare consulting company. That’s the biggest number of first quarter deals since 2020, Kaufman Hall says.

While there has been a good amount of deals early in the year, many have involved health systems exiting regions that they see as less favorable, said Kris Blohm, managing director and co-leader of Kaufman Hall’s M&A practice.

In the first quarter of the year, divestitures accounted for 15 of the 22 deals, representing more than two-thirds of the transactions.

“Health systems are repositioning by withdrawing from underperforming or non-core markets, building capital to invest in new capabilities, proactively seeking partners to increase resilience or enhance access to care and services, and placing big bets on new combinations of resources and capabilities,” Blohm said.