A report from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project found that of the 386 hospitals owned by private equity groups, 34 percent serve rural populations, globest.com reported April 21.
The report found that Texas had the most private equity-owned hospitals and New Mexico had the highest proportion of private equity-owned hospitals.
"We are increasingly seeing activity by private equity firms in the rural hospital space, as well as the community-based healthcare model," Brad Shokes, managing director of healthcare at real estate company JLL, told globegt.com. "I expect to see even more private equity investment not just in hospitals but in more community and local-based healthcare — especially in the payer-provider space, where insurance companies are creating medical portfolios."