During the second quarter of 2015, the hospital acquisition market remained steady, with 23 transactions announced. This is the same number of deals announced in the first quarter of this year, according to the Health Care M&A Report. The number of deals is up one compared from the 22 deals done in the second quarter of 2014.

“Hospital transactions have become trickier to track in recent years, as some hospitals and health systems have formed strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or clinical collaborations. The 23 announced in the second quarter are true mergers or acquisitions,” says Lisa E. Phillips, editor of the report. With a total of 56 hospital deals recorded in the first half of 2015, M&A activity in this sector could surpass the 100 hospital transactions announced in 2014.