The Federal Trade Commission filed a restraining order this week to try to stop any further merging of Albany’s Phoebe-Putney Memorial Hospital and the former Palmyra Medical Center.

The merger has been the subject of an anti-trust court challenge for years. A U-S Supreme Court ruling in February allowed the case to go forward.

The F-T-C wants all of Palmyra’s assets to be maintained until a trial in August on the merits of the purchase.

The Hospital Authority of Albany-Dougherty County bought Palmyra in December 2011. The F-T-C says merging the two hospitals will drive up prices in southwest Georgia.

Phoebe-Putney officials say they’ll keep fighting to complete the merger.

Tags: Albany, Federal Trade Commission, Palmyra Medical Center, hospital merger, Phoebe-Putney