TEMPLE (November 9, 2009)—The Austin-based Seton health system confirmed Monday evening that it has been in talks since Oct. 30 with Scott & White Hospital about acquiring King’s Daughters Hospital in Temple, which Scott & White had planned to turn into a children’s hospital until the Federal Trade Commission determined that the takeover resulted in reduced competition.

No other details were released Monday.

Opponents of King’s Daughters’ decision to merge with Scott & White had pressed the hospital’s board to approach Seton, but King’s Daughters officials said a non-disclosure agreement with Scott & White precluded any other negotiations.

News that the Scott & White-King’s Daughter merger was off was disclosed in an e-mail sent Friday by Scott & White Healthcare President and CEO Alfred Knight.

“We respectfully disagree with the FTC,” Knight wrote, “but also recognize lengthy legal battles could only put our staff and our community through more uncertainty.”

“Scott & White has made an offer to a highly regarded, FTC approved, healthcare organization to merge or acquire KDH and maintain the facility as a general acute care hospital,” Knight wrote.

The outcome of that proposed deal might not be known for several weeks, Knight wrote, and in the meantime, King’s Daughters will operate as it has since the hospital’s board approved the merger with Scott & White on March 31.

Scott & White planned to operate King’s Daughters as an acute-care hospital until the facility was converted into a children’s facility.

Scott & White and Cook Children’s Health Care System announced an agreement several days before the board vote “with the intent to work together in pediatric healthcare,” according to a joint statement.

The Seton Family of Hospitals is a not-for-profit organization that serves an 11-county area with a population of 1.8 people, according to the system’s Web site.

The system includes five major medical centers, two community hospitals, two rural hospitals, an inpatient mental health hospital, three primary care clinics for the uninsured and health facilities that provide well-patient rehabilitation and medical care, according to the Web site.