Prisma abandons plan to buy 3 more South Carolina hospitals

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s largest hospital system will not be buying three more hospitals.

Prisma Health announced Friday that it was giving up on plans to buy three hospitals in Columbia and Kershaw.

The move came after an unfavorable court ruling and questions about whether the deal would give Prisma a near-monopoly over hospital care in much of the state’s Midlands region.

Prisma will lose a $10 million down payment to Tennessee-based LifePoint Health, a for-profit firm that owns Providence Health and Kershaw Health.

Prisma says problems with the Federal Trade Commission and state regulators made it “prohibitive” to proceed.

Prisma’s potential market power drew opposition from Lexington Medical Center.