Hospital mergers and acquisitions didn’t flag in the second quarter of 2015, with at least 23 “definitive agreements” signed. That’s equal to the 23 recorded in the first quarter of the year. (We wait until hospital transactions get that far in the process, because so many fall apart after they sign a letter of intent.) Ventas Inc.’s (NYSE: VTR) $1.75 billion acquisition of Ardent Health Services was the biggest deal of the quarter, followed by Ventas’ expected spin-off of Ardent’s hospital operations to Equity Group Investments, LLC for $475 million. Watch for The Health Care M&A Report, Second Quarter 2015 to be published next week.