WakeMed And UNC Hospitals Call A Truce

WakeMed Hospital has withdrawn its takeover bid of UNC-owned Rex Healthcare. The cross-town rivals are putting an end to their public battle that escalated when WakeMed issued an unsuccessful bid to buy Rex last year for 750 million dollars. The announcement comes after state lawmakers helped broker an agreement between the two institutions' officials. Bill Atkinson is the CEO of WakeMed.

Bill Atkinson: We're pleased to arrive at the settlements that we've agreed to today, they deal with substantial issues that we've been discussing for the last eighteen months. We feel that all parties starting with patients and citizens of our state benefit from the agreement. And there is room here to expand relationships for years to come.

The agreement includes a 30 million dollar commitment by UNC Health Care to build and run an inpatient psychiatric facility and help fund outpatient mental health services in Wake County. Rex's detractors had complained the hospital wasn't doing enough for indigent health care in Raleigh.