For-profit healthcare is booming: See where private equity owns nearly 500 of America's hospitals

“Data compiled by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit watchdog organization, shows that 488 US hospitals were owned by PE firms as of last spring, representing roughly a quarter of the for-profit healthcare landscape” (Kelly, 2026).

“‘We've seen multiple cases of private equity firms themselves profiting handsomely, even as they've run hospital systems in the ground right and left, left patients with less access to care, and put thousands of workers out of work,’ said Jim Baker, founder and executive director of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project” (Kelly, 2026).

“Psychiatric hospitals, long-term care, and rehab facilities were the most likely to be bought by PE, and at least 27.7% of all the private equity-owned health centers served rural populations” (Kelly, 2026).

“When private equity buys a hospital, they typically use high amounts of debt, combine multiple acquisitions under one corporate umbrella, or charge newly-acquired facilities steep management fees. The goal for firms is to reach a return on investment and make a profit within four to seven years, per PESP. Baker said he has concerns that a focus on revenue can compromise patients' care and lead to staff burnout” (Kelly, 2026).

“‘I think a lot of people I talk to have this very strong ideological belief that healthcare should be run by nonprofits, and that is not clearly true in the data,’ Gao said. ‘If you compare, for example, the average mortality — because that's the easiest, clearest indicator — there's no significant difference between the two types of hospitals’” (Kelly, 2026).

Many hospitals and other care centers are being bought by private equity firms. Private equity firms rely on taking on debt to hopefully turn around and make a profit in a few years. This is worrying because most health care centers in rural Ohio need the extra support from firms, but could be impacted by their drive to make a return on their investment.

As of now, there have been a few cases where this has closed healthcare facilities so that the firms can make a profit. This has not been the case for every organization, and comparing data between open ones shows that there is not a difference in mortality rate at the hospital. However, if private equity means increased costs for healthcare, my project will need to consider how to best support rural patients in a financially careful way. As well, consolidations of systems and locations from private equity decisions could cause longer patient travel time, another important metric to consider in the future.

References

Kelly, A. (2026, March 24). For-profit healthcare is booming: See where private equity owns nearly 500 of America’s hospitals. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-private-equity-owned-hospitals-by-state-2026-3

No generative AI was used in writing this article.