Private equity firms have drawn significant policy interest and scrutiny amid recent reports of surprise billing, rising out-of-pocket costs for patients and increased healthcare spending in the U.S., according to Health Affairs.
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has found at least 386 hospitals in the U.S. that are owned by private equity firms.
Six things to know:
1. The 386 private equity--owned hospitals represent 9% of all private hospitals and 30% of all proprietary for-profit hospitals.
2. Thirty-four percent of private equity-owned hospitals serve rural populations.
3. Texas is the state with the most private equity-owned hospitals (85).
4. While New Mexico has fewer private equity-owned hospitals (17), it has the highest proportion of private equity-backed hospitals compared to all private non-government hospitals at 43%.
5. More than 24% of private equity-owned facilities are psychiatric hospitals.
6. A few private equity firms dominate the list, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project:
- Apollo Global Management (LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.) and ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.): 177 hospitals combined)
- Equity Group Investments (Ardent Health Services (Nashville, Tenn): 30 hospitals)
- One Equity Partners (Ernest Health (Albuquerque, N.M.): 27 hospitals)
- GoldenTree Asset Management and Davidson Kempner (Quorum Health (Brentwood, Tenn.): 21 hospitals)
- Bain Capital (Surgery Partners (Brentwood, Tenn.): 19 hospitals)
- Webster Equity Partners (Oceans Healthcare (Plano, Texas): 18 hospitals)
- Patient Square Capital (Summit Behavioral Health (Franklin, Tenn.): 11 hospitals)
Editor's Note: The Private Equity Stakeholder Project said the numbers outlined in its tracker are an approximation and can differ from what health systems or private equity firms report. Differences may be the result of recent transactions, inaccuracies in CMS source data or limited publicly available information on facility ownership.