A group of "concerned Mid-Missouri citizens" last week announced the formation of a new, nonprofit organization "dedicated to the protection of choice in health care."
And they have already run full-page ads in the News Tribune and other area publications.
They're calling the new group "A Coalition for Choice," and said it was created "to oppose health care monopolies and to advocate for consumer choice in Missouri health care."
The coalition was formed after MU Health announced in August it intended to purchase SSM Health's Mid-Missouri assets, including St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City and the former Audrain Medical Center in Mexico.
While both parties acknowledge ongoing talks about the potential acquisition, few details have been announced.
In a statement to the News Tribune on Monday evening, MU Health wrote: "MU Health Care is committed to improving access to affordable, quality care for all those we serve.
"Transferring ownership of St. Mary's Hospital-Jefferson City and St. Mary's Hospital-Audrain to MU Health Care will allow us to better integrate the care provided within these communities to ensure patients have access to a full continuum of care and the advanced clinical services of a premier academic health system close to home.
"It also furthers our efforts to provide strong support to rural communities that are facing increasing shortages of primary care physicians."
And, in a separate statement, SSM Health said: "SSM Health is committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of quality health care in the communities we serve. We continue to believe that transitioning ownership to MU Health Care, which is already providing high-quality care in the region, will best serve the people of Jefferson City and Mexico, Mo., and surrounding communities.
"This transition would also create new opportunities for MU Health Care to train more physicians, nurses and other health professionals to care for patients throughout Missouri - especially those in underserved, rural areas."
Neither statement offered a deadline for making any announcements.
However, the coalition's news release - and its ad in Saturday's newspaper - said MU Health currently is lobbying to pass legislation that would enable MU Health to merge their affiliate, Capital Region Medical Center, with what currently is the SSM St. Mary's facility - creating one consolidated hospital system in Jefferson City.
A Coalition for Choice "believes that such a hospital care monopoly in Cole County would be detrimental to the entire Mid-Missouri community and could also lead to one health system in Boone County," the group's news release said.
The MU Health Care statement said: "As a public institution, the University of Missouri and MU Health Care are guided by all rules and regulations established by the state of Missouri.
"This transaction will enhance efficiencies to ensure the long-term sustainability of these operations and ensure resources and current and future jobs remain in Mid-Missouri.
"Balancing the interests of our patients, communities, physicians and employees is our guiding principle, and we have been working closely with key stakeholders in Audrain, Boone and Cole Counties to ensure their perspectives are considered throughout this process. We have demonstrated transparency throughout this process."
However, the coalition countered: "Multiple studies demonstrate the negative impact of hospital consolidation."
The coalition cited work by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, who examined 25 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest rate of hospital consolidation from 2010-13.
That study's findings, the coalition's news release said, "demonstrated dramatic price increases; the average price of a hospital stay skyrocketed as much as 54 percent in the years after the mergers."
Joplin was one of the cities reviewed in that study, which reported consumers "saw a 25 percent cost increase after hospital consolidation, and their market consolidation was only partial."
The coalition said the UC-Berkeley study also pointed to reduced quality-measures in some markets.
"If MU Health successfully acquires SSM St. Mary's Hospital," the coalition argued in its news release, "evidence shows that quality of care will likely decrease and jobs may be lost among Mid-Missouri's largest employers."
Therefore, the coalition said, "The ultimate result of this merger will be significantly higher health care costs, fewer jobs, fewer doctors, lower quality outcomes and less health care innovation."