UNDATED (WIFR) -- Rockford Memorial Hospital and OSF Saint Anthony will be in federal court Wednesday to convince Judge Fred Kapala their merger won't be damaging to local healthcare.

The federal trade commission requested an injuction. If it's granted the case would be taken to trial in Washington, D.C. this Spring. A news conference is scheduled ahead of the hearing.

We'll bring you the latest tomorrow on the 23 News at Five.

The FTC will face off against OSF St. Anthony and Rockford Health Systems in court this week.

The FTC wants to temporarily prevent OSF and RHS from moving forward with any plans until a final decision is made this spring in Washington. They say merger will decrease competition in the area and raise prices for consumers. Representatives from the hospitals in question say that's not the case.

From Nov. 21, 2011: ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- A recent decision by the Federal Trade Commission to stop the merger of OSF Healthcare System and Rockford Health System was a major blow to the two local medical providers. But the hospitals say they're not giving up and will continue to fight for their affiliation and for patients.

OSF Healthcare System and Rockford Health System are bringing their proposed merger to court after the Federal Trade commission filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop it.

"We still lack some of the specificity of what was the facts that created their decision," says OSF Healthcare System CEO Kevin Schoeplein.

The FTC says going from three major hospitals to two would eliminate competition and increase costs.

"Consumers are benefiting from this competition, resulting in lower health care costs, higher quality of care, greater levels of service; people that live and work in the Rockford area benefit from that competition and we are seeking to preserve it," says Rich Cunningham, an attorney with the FTC.

Hospital leaders agree that lower costs and better quality is the answer, that's why they want a merger.

"We think this gives us a nucleus to come up with some innovative new products that will allow us to provide much better clinical outcomes and significantly reduce expenses," explains Gary Kaatz, president and CEO of Rockford Health System.

The reduced expenses would be for patients and hospitals.

"We've identified over $42 million in annual savings that we're going to be able to generate. We also have the ability to avoid over $120 million in capital by virtue of this transaction," says Schoeplein.

Other cities have already tested out similar mergers.

"If you look at towns that are comparable to Rockford, Champaign, Bloomington-Normal, Springfield, the Quad Cities, you'll see examples where they've gone from three providers to two providers that have also yielded a lower price for Medicare enrollees," says Kaatz.

The health systems also say the move would be more convenient for patients; new technology would mean they could be treated in Rockford as opposed to driving to out of town hospitals, like in Chicago and Madison.

A hearing on the merger is scheduled to begin April 17th. That is when both parties will argue their cases. The entire process could take up to two years.

If the merger is approved SwedishAmerican would be the only main competition left in Rockford.

It was in May of 2010 when the health systems announced the potential merger.