Optum, parent company of ASC chain SCA Health, is the country's largest employer of physicians, with a portfolio of 90,000 affiliated. 

Port Arthur-based Medical Center of Southeast Texas, an affiliate of Dallas-based Steward Health Care, will close its campus in Beaumont Feb. 2. 

Here are five healthcare partnerships, acquisitions and mergers that ASCs should know, as reported by Becker's since Jan. 12:

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health to block its $320 million bid to purchase two area hospitals and build a new ASC in Mooresville, N.C., according to a Jan. 25 report from The Charlotte Observer.

Hospitals and health systems have turned their heads toward the ASC industry as a new opportunity for growth.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has purchased a medical office building in Santa Clarita, Calif., for $67 million, according to a Jan. 23 report from the Real Deal. 

The University of Vermont Medical Center submitted a certificate of need with intention to purchase a Colchester-based medical campus owned by Covenant Health for $17.3 million. 

Surgery Ventures, HCA Healthcare's ASC business, has acquired a majority interest in two Texas ASCs. 

The Citizens' Council for Health Freedom, a nonprofit organization focused on healthcare policy, raised concerns over General Catalyst's recently announced plans to acquire Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health and its intent to convert the health system and insurance plan into a for-profit entity.

Nampa, Idaho-based Saltzer Health is planning to sell or shut down by March 29.

General Catalyst led a $95.5 million funding round for a Texas-based physician clinic chain in early January, and a week later the investment firm announced plans to acquire Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health.

United Surgical Partners International is the largest ASC chain in the U.S., making it a major force in the industry.

A 160,000-square-foot medical office building and ASC in Hudson, Wis., has sold to Hammes Partners, according to a Jan. 18 report from Commercial Property Executive.

Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Nvision Eye Centers has partnered with San Antonio-based ophthalmology group Parkhurst NuVision.

ASCs might just be the golden ticket hospitals have been searching for. 

Five ASC leaders joined Becker's to discuss how a potential economic downturn could affect ambulatory healthcare space growth. 

In 2023, OptumHealth saw 900,000 more patients under value-based care, according to a Jan. 12 call with investors transcribed by Seeking Alpha. 

Optum earned $226.6 billion in total revenue in 2023 — an increase of 22% year over year, according to the company's fourth-quarter financial report. 

Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System has made plans to acquire Astria Ambulatory Surgical Center in Yakima, Wash., Yakima Herald-Republic reported Jan. 12.

With 70% of ASCs remaining independent as of 2022, according to a report from VMG Health, consolidation may seem like a fairly distant problem. But as health systems, management companies and private equity firms take interest in ASCs, it may be time to ask if consolidation is a threat worth taking seriously.