New Beaumont, Spectrum system to launch Tuesday

Beaumont Health and Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health announced Monday that because federal regulators finished reviewing their planned megamerger and didn’t object to the tie-up, the new combined health system — the biggest in Michigan — will launch Tuesday.

The announcement suggests that the plan withstood the Biden administration’s heightened scrutiny of mergers and consolidations in the U.S. economy, including in the health care industry, which had the potential to scuttle the deal. That added scrutiny may have delayed the merger from happening late last year as initially  planned.

Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Spectrum Health, will lead the new hospital system and current Beaumont Health CEO John Fox will depart Feb. 4.

“Today is a historic day — the launch of our new beginning,” Freese Decker said.