Bernie Sanders calls Kroger’s $24.6B merger with Albertsons a ‘disaster’

Victoria Moorwood Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling Kroger’s latest move an “absolute disaster” after the Cincinnatibased grocery retailer announced it would take over Albertsons in a $24.6 billion deal.

The combined sales of the two grocery store chains are nearly $210 billion, putting Kroger about $10 billion shy of U.S. food sales at Walmart, the world’s largest grocer.

In a tweet, Sanders called on the White House to reject the merger.

“At a time when food prices are soaring as a result of corporate greed, it would be an absolute disaster to allow Kroger, the 2nd largest grocery store in America, to merge with Albertsons, the 4th largest grocery store in America,” the Vermont progressive wrote. “The Biden Administration must reject this deal.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren reacted to the then-rumored merger in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday. The Massachusetts Democrat said the U.S. has failed to utilize antitrust laws for decades.

“For example, with grocery stores, remember how many grocery stores there used to be? And now what you have is a handful of giant chains,” Warren said.

The senator said Kroger earned almost $900 million in the third quarter of 2021, more than three times the amount it made in the same time period in 2019.

“That’s because they have a lot of market dominance,” she said. “If we move in on antitrust law, break up these giant corporations, then we get real competition and then we get markets that are truly competitive.”

Kroger and Albertsons are expected to divest 100 to 375 stores to pacify antitrust concerns, leaving Kroger to operate more than 4,500 stores nationwide. Albertsons investors will own a separate company that includes the divested stores.

Both stores currently employ a combined 710,000 associates and operate 4,996 stores, 66 distribution centers, 52 manufacturing plants, 3,972 pharmacies and 2,015 fuel centers in 48 states and Washington D.C

The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute, a national force in leading-edge technologies and a global leader in clinical cardiovascular research, is taking a signifcant step forward in heart failure patient care services by launching its long-anticipated heart transplant and artifcial heart programs.

“We are delighted to announce the establishment of The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Center, which is a logical and much needed extension of our current, leading-edge heart failure therapies,” said Dean Kereiakes, MD, FACC, MSCAI, President of The Heart & Vascular Institute, and Medical Director of The Christ Hospital Research Institute. “The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Center and the Harold C. Schott Foundation Mechanical Cardiac Support Program will provide additional resources not previously available in our region.”

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Of that, an estimated 6.5 million Americans live with heart failure and an additional 1 million are diagnosed with heart failure every year. Annually, about 8,000 Americans need a new heart to survive, but with the limited supply of donor hearts, only an estimated 3,500 transplants are performed. At least half of all patients remaining on a transplant list die within several years of diagnosis. In Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana and Southwestern Ohio, the statistics are even more grim.

The region is grossly underserved for this resource and the gap is widening between people who need a heart and the number of available donor hearts. Ohio is in the bottom 40% of states for transplanting patients within a year of getting on a transplant list—and compared to states of similar size, it’s at the bottom.

“The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Program will provide additional opportunities for local and regional heart failure patients who are in need of this life-sav- pital Heart Transplant Program,” said Dr. Kereiakes. “Dr. Bhat has successfully established several nationally recognized heart transplant programs and is a well-respected transplant cardiologist. We are also extremely fortunate to have recruited Robert D. Dowling, PhD, MD, as Surgical Director, The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Program, and The Chris and Trey Heekin Family Endowed Chair in Cardiac Transplantation. Dr. Dowling has more than 25 years of experience performing open-heart procedures and has extensive expertise in heart transplantation.” to do so long after any of us are still practicing.”

In concert with the heart transplant program, the Harold C. Schott Foundation program is now established for developing artifcial hearts and other mechanical cardiac support devices. This program enables the hospital to offer therapeutic options not available anywhere of exceptional services and dedicated and credentialed heart failure physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and dietitians.

“In 1985, I was inspired by the vision of Carl H. Lindner Jr., a philanthropist who helped our organization fourish, and a good friend, who asked me, “Why should I have to go to Houston, Cleveland, Boston, or anywhere else to get the best heart care?”

My answer then and now is the same. “You don’t, Carl, we’ll bring it here.” is a natural evolution for us. We have taken care of the sickest and most complex heart failure patients for years. Now we can offer either heart transplantation or LVADs for patients with end stage heart failure that have no other options.”

The heart transplant program launch continues to validate The Christ Hospital as a

The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute launched its long-anticipated regional heart transplant and artifcial heart programs after receiving an afrmative accreditation response from UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing.

To establish the program, The Christ Hospital recruited two exceptional, highly experienced cardiac transplant specialists.

ing procedure,” said Debbie Hayes, President and CEO of The Christ Hospital Health Network. “This expansion of our nationally renowned heart failure services is a key part of our strategy to improve the health of our community by providing everything it takes for patients and their families to receive exceptional care right here in Cincinnati.”

Dr. Bhat enthusiastically afrms that the hospital is well positioned to launch a heart transplant program. “There is absolutely no question the pieces are in place to build a successful heart transplant program,” she said.

“You need highly successful heart failure and advanced heart failure programs, as well as mechanical circulatory support device services. These are clearly well-established here— including complex surgeries, ablation procedures, and mechanical left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support.

Heart transplantation is the obvious and logical next step to complete the picture and ensure that regional heart failure patients have the best care with a full spectrum of services.” else and will place The Christ Hospital and The Lindner Research Center at the national forefront for heart replacement.

Dr. Dowling agrees and adds that this will beneft local heart failure patients immediately.

To efectively establish this regional heart transplant program, The Christ Hospital has recruited two exceptional, highly renowned heart transplant specialists with experience launching nationally successful transplant programs.

“We are thrilled to welcome Geetha Bhat, PhD, MD, FACC, FAST, FHFSA, as Medical Director, The Christ Hos-

“Patients from this area often travel to other cities for a heart transplant and that’s an extremely difcult obstacle for them,” he said.

“The Christ Hospital has the right combination of heart failure programs, a perfect research environment and specialized heart failure surgeons and cardiologists. What we are delivering here will help many people in the region and will continue

“The Christ Hospital has the right combination of heart failure programs, a perfect research environment and specialized heart failure surgeons and cardiologists.”

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our heart failure, transplant, and artifcial heart programs provided by The Margo and Frank Homan Family Foundation, The Chris and Trey Heekin Family, and The Harold C. Schott Foundation,” said Dr. Kereiakes. “Without this support, we would not be able to ofer these valuable, lifesaving resources to our community.”

Dr. Kereiakes added that efective heart failure treatment programs are built like pyramids, from the base up, with a foundation

That led to a decision, in 1995, when Dr. Kereiakes merged fve separate groups of leading cardiologists in Cincinnati with the goal of providing innovative heart care to the region. Access to leading-edge technology then became available through The Carl and Edyth Lindner Center for Research and Education at The Christ Hospital.

In 2005, the Lindner Heart Failure Treatment Center was launched at The Christ Hospital. This unique 28-bed unit, dedicated to the care of heart failure patients, is stafed by a team of credentialed cardiologists, nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, and staf members who specialize in the treatment of heart failure. Six years later, the hospital launched its LVAD Program for advanced heart failure patients. This lifesaving device is a surgically implanted mechanical pump to assist the heart in circulating blood to the body.

Greg Egnaczyk, MD, PhD, FACC, is the Medical Director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) Program at The Christ Hospital and the Margo and Frank Homan Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Heart Failure. “Expanding our therapies to include heart transplantation national destination for specialty heart and vascular care, clinical research, and innovative treatments—and now heart transplantation. It further reinforces the excellence of its exceptional cardiac programs and the physicians and staf dedicated to providing the highest quality heart care for heart failure patients in the Tristate region.

“Expanding our therapies to include heart transplantation is a natural evolution for us. We have taken care of the sickest and most complex heart failure patients for years.”

If you or someone you love has questions about heart failure or wants to schedule a second opinion cardiology appointment, please visit our website at TheChristHospital. com/Heart-Transplant or call 513-995-7882 for an appointment at a local ofce near you.

Geetha Bhat, PhD, MD, FACC, FAST, FHFSA, is Medical Director, The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Program and Robert D. Dowling, PhD, MD, is Surgical Director, The Christ Hospital Heart Transplant Program, and The Chris and Trey Heekin Family Endowed Chair in Cardiac Transplantation.

Dr. Bhat, an expert in mechanical cardiac support, with vast heart transplantation experience, has established several nationally recognized and highly successful heart transplant programs. Most recently, she facilitated all aspects of the Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program at Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute, where she was also a professor of medicine.

Dr. Dowling, a professor of surgery with a successful track record of over 6,000 open-heart operations, specializes in cardiac transplantation and mechanical cardiac support. A pioneering innovator, Dr. Dowling’s interests extend to mechanical and biomechanical designs. He has been a central fgure for innovation and development of these technologies and continues to research cardiac assist devices for severe heart failure.

“I enjoy innovating heart surgery and advancing the feld,” he said. “If some of these heart pump innovations I’m working on live up to their promise, they may improve the outcomes for patients locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally. Existing heart failure devices are light-years from where we started, but there are remarkable breakthroughs on the horizon that will make a huge difference in terms of a patient’s quality of life.”

Dr. Kereiakes is thrilled to have these exceptional physicians join the institute and direct the expansion. “Heart failure patients will no longer have to travel beyond the region or to other states for heart transplant procedures and advanced services,” he said. “Compared with other states our size, we are at the bottom with respect to adequacy of heart transplant services. Southwestern Ohio and the Tristate region are grossly underserved, and I believe we have a moral obligation to develop a topnotch program right here.”

Both Drs. Bhat and Dowling look forward to establishing this program and agree there is absolutely no question that, at The Christ Hospital, the pieces are there, the foundation is in place, and the Tristate will have exceptional heart transplant services.

“We are embarking on a journey that Dr. Dowling and I have successfully accomplished together in the past,” said Dr. Bhat. “In this instance, we are fortunate to be working with Dr. Kereiakes—an incredible pioneer I’ve known for many decades— and the extraordinary team of cardiothoracic surgeons and heart failure specialists at The Christ Hospital.”