When WakeMed officials turned down an offer to join the UNC Health system rather than Charlotte-based Atrium Health, they said they had carefully reviewed UNC’s proposal and explained why they think Atrium is a better fit.
But this week, they also disclosed that WakeMed has an agreement with Atrium that prevents it from seriously considering any other offers. UNC Health made its proposal in a seven-page letter to Thad McDonald, head of WakeMed’s board of directors, on May 5, four days after WakeMed announced its plans to join Atrium.
“We respectfully thanked them and let them know we had a signed agreement,” McDonald told Wake County commissioners on Monday. “We had worked on this agreement for more than three years, and the terms of which prevented us from having conversations with anyone else.”…