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Two Texas hospital giants called off their planned merger Tuesday, the latest combination to get scuttled in the rapidly-consolidating sector. Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas and Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, both nonprofits, announced in October plans to create one of the biggest U.S. health systems, by number of hospitals, with 68 hospitals and nearly $15 billion in yearly revenue. Executives touted the benefits and efficiencies that would come from the combination. (Evans, 2/5)

Chuck Stokes, Memorial Hermann CEO, wrote in an email to employees: "Our goal was never about getting bigger. Our goal is to create a model for integrated, consumer-centric, cost-effective care, and I am confident in Memorial Hermann's ability to accelerate and achieve this effort. ...We appreciate the time, thought and care that was invested in this process by so many from both organizations, and extend our deepest thanks to all those involved for their many months of hard work, above and beyond their regular day-to-day responsibilities," Stokes’ email said. (Deam, 2/5)

That may prove to be a good thing for patients and the public, health care analyst Allan Baumgarten said. “The track record of these large mergers is they don’t provide savings or higher quality,” said Baumgarten, who’s been analyzing the Texas health market for 20 years. “More often, they’re about raising prices and improving profits. The benefits usually don’t go to patients and employers.” (Schnurman, 2/6)

Catholic health care systems are growing in size and political might throughout the United States — a trend that could restrict women’s reproductive health services and other health care not supported by the church’s doctrine. California’s Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives of Colorado on Friday finalized their long-awaited merger, creating the nation's largest nonprofit health system by revenue outside Kaiser Permanente, which also has an insurance arm. (Colliver, 2/5)

An updated lawsuit in the death of a woman given an excessive dose of pain medication at Mount Carmel West hospital indicates that the nurse who administered the medication later became the third wife of the doctor who ordered it. Mariah Baird, 26, of Orient, is accused in the document of administering a lethal dose of fentanyl to 65-year-old Jan Thomas of the Far West Side on March 1, 2015, “knowing that such dose was grossly inappropriate.” (Viviano, 2/5)