Georgia Attorney General approves integration of Houston Healthcare and Emory Healthcare

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has given approval for the strategic integration of Houston Healthcare, a community-based health system located in Warner Robins and Perry, and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive academic health system located in Atlanta. With this last step of regulatory approval, it is anticipated that Houston Healthcare will officially become a part of the Emory Healthcare system on June 1, 2025.

“We are excited we have reached this important milestone to bring our two organizations together,” says Joon S. Lee, MD, CEO of Emory Healthcare. “The unification of our two health systems will allow us to strengthen and grow our services for patients in Central Georgia, while providing continuous high-quality health care to the communities who need us most.”

In August 2024, the two organizations announced they signed a Letter of Intent to explore the possibilities of Houston Healthcare joining Emory Healthcare. In February 2025, the parties finalized the terms of a definitive agreement, which specified the details and provisions of Houston Healthcare’s integration into Emory Healthcare. Now that the Attorney General of Georgia has given approval of the integration, both organizations will work to finalize all necessary regulatory paperwork to close the transaction.

“This new affiliation with Emory Healthcare will help us reinforce our commitment of providing exceptional care and patient-focused services in Warner Robins, Perry and the surrounding areas,” says Charles G. Briscoe, FACHE, president and CEO of Houston Healthcare. “For more than 60 years, we have supported our community with their health care needs and we look forward to what the future holds.”

Houston Healthcare is a community-based health system headquartered in Warner Robins, GA. Comprised of two hospital campuses with a combined 282 beds, five outpatient facilities and seven physician practices, Houston Healthcare has been serving Houston County and all of Central Georgia since 1960. The organization provides a full suite of medical services with 2,500 employees and 200 physicians serving more than 300,000 patients annually.

Emory Healthcare, with 26,400 employees and 10 hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. System-wide, it has 2,811 licensed patient beds, more than 3,940 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties, serving metro Atlanta and Georgia. It also provides services to greater Georgia through a joint venture at St. Francis–Emory Healthcare in Columbus, six regional affiliate hospitals and its clinically integrated physician network.