Here are five major healthcare deals and closures in 2024 that are affecting physicians:
1. In October, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare completed the sale of its 70% ownership of five hospitals in Alabama. The transaction includes five hospitals: Brookwood Baptist Medical Center, Citizens Baptist Medical Center in Talladega, Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Shelby Baptist Medical Center in Alabaster, and Walker Baptist Medical Center in Jasper.
This comes after a wave of hospital sales by the healthcare giant earlier this year. Tenet sold nine hospitals in California and South Carolina for a total of $3.9 billion and has been redirecting its focus toward its ASC arm, United Surgical Partners International.
2. Nashville, Tenn.-based Rural Healthcare Group, part of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries, agreed to acquire financially troubled Steward Health Care's physician group for $245 million in cash. The sale is part of the hospital system's plan to mitigate financial distress — Steward sought Chapter 11 protection on May 6 and is required to sell its assets through auctions.
Pending approval, Rural Healthcare Group would take on Stewardship's system — an integration of Steward Health Care Network and the Steward Medical Group, a primary-care network of around 5,000 employed and affiliated providers.
In June, Optum, parent company of ASC chain SCA Health, backed out of plans to acquire the 175-physician Stewardship Health.
3. In April, Walmart Health announced it will close all 51 of its clinics and shut down its virtual care options. According to a news release from the company, the decision comes amid a "challenging reimbursement environment" and heightened operating costs. Launched in 2019, Walmart Health has since partnered with Orlando Health, Centene's Ambetter from Sunshine Health and UnitedHealth Group for various deals.
4. In March, Optum, parent company of ASC chain SCA Health, received approval to bypass a state review of its planned purchase of physician-owned Corvallis (Ore.) Clinic. An emergency application was filed March 7 so the clinic "can continue serving their patients and communities with the care they need. As outlined in numerous filings and discussions with the state since December 2023, the Corvallis Clinic has significant longstanding financial issues that have come to a head, necessitating this emergency filing," a spokesperson for Optum told Becker's.
Because of a lack of cash stability, the clinic did not have time to undergo more regulatory review without more cost-cutting measures that would impact care, Corvallis Clinic's attorneys said, and could have been forced to close.
5. In March, Nampa, Idaho-based Saltzer Health closed down. The physician group, which was acquired by Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health in October 2020, cited in a Jan. 18 news release financial and economic challenges as its reason to close or sell. The physician group also referenced "vital contracts and other market relationships" falling through.