Practice Management
Earlier this week, several media outlets reported that Walgreens is in negotiation discussions for a potential sale to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. With Walgreens’ debt and flagging in-store clinics, a major overhaul seems likely regardless. A few weeks ago, the retail pharmacy giant said it would be closing 1,200 locations over the next few years after reporting a $3 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2024. A deal with Sycamore Partners would take …
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that was designed to require state approval for healthcare merger and acquisition deals involving private investors. The scrutiny was meant to increase oversight of private equity and hedge fund ownership transactions that have the potential to lead to consolidations and closures of healthcare provider operations. However, it’s important to note the reason behind the veto. Newsom reasoned that California has an existing Office of Health Care Affordability …
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A proposed bill in California aims to increase oversight of investments in healthcare by requiring private equity (PE) firms and hedge funds to notify the attorney general proactively to obtain approval of certain transactions, according to Kaiser Health News. The bill also reinforces existing state laws that prohibit nonphysicians from directly employing doctors or managing their activities. The proposed policy comes as PE dealings in healthcare are facing added scrutiny nationwide with growing concerns that …
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Congressional leaders are doubling down on their scrutiny of how private equity (PE) ownership may potentially be influencing care within PE investor’s portfolios of healthcare companies, according to a summary from Axios. One Senate proposal entered into discussion recently suggests that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should have the authority to halt certain healthcare PE transactions by creating licensing standards for firms before they can invest in healthcare assets. Leaders are also …
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Citation: Ayers A. Private Equity Ownership in Urgent Care By Number of Centers, 2024. J Urgent Care Med. 2024; 18(7):33-34 Although private equity started nibbling on urgent care as far back as 2007, its full investment push kicked off with the 2010 acquisitions and scaling of NextCare, MedExpress, and FastMed. Since that time, some regional platforms like Physicians Immediate Care, MD Now, and PhysicianOne have completed the entire private equity investment lifecycle of acquisition, scaling, and final …
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American Family Care, operator of urgent care, primary care, and occupational medicine clinics, announced the closing of an equity investment by Lorient Capital, a firm that has a number of healthcare investments in its portfolio. Lorient Capital officials said in a press release that American Family Care has dozens of new locations in the pipeline across the United States, and its financial backing and experience will support ongoing growth strategies. Founded in 1982, American Family …
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In Oregon, proposed legislation could dramatically limit corporate ownership of primary care, specialty, and urgent care clinics. Proponents say they’re concerned about the potential quality issues, staff reductions, increased costs, and the “depersonalization” of ownership they believe comes with private equity control, according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting. The bill’s language builds on existing rules in the state and would require clinics with corporate ownership to ensure the majority owners (51%) are physicians. …
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Baptist Memorial Health Care recently announced the opening of 10 new urgent care (UC) centers in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas under the Baptist Urgent Care flag. The UC organization is a joint venture partnership between Baptist Memorial Health Care and the Urgent Team Family of Urgent Care & Walk-In Centers. According to a press release, the centers are accredited by the Urgent Care Association. Urgent Team operates 85 total centers offering urgent care, primary care, occupational, specialty …
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Urgent care operator CityMD’s steady expansion in the New York metropolitan area has made it an appealing prospect for private equity, with Warburg Pincus LLC said to be putting down $600 million to bring it into its healthcare fold. CityMD has some 68 locations currently, after starting with a single New York City center in 2010. The company bought one of its competitors, Premier Care, but also built new locations as part of its growth …
Read MoreJohn Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP In last month’s column, I presented an overview of capital sources that can be used to fund your urgent care start-up or expansion. This month I will discuss the different sources of debt and equity capital. Much of the decision regarding which capital source is best for you is determined by your stage of development. For a startup, you will probably have to use traditional bank debt or raise …
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