Ardent Health (NYSE: ARDT) is tackling 2026 with renewed operational momentum, pointing to improving financial performance and continued investment in outpatient access points – including ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) – as part of its long-term growth strategy.
The Brentwood, Tennessee–based health system reported fourth-quarter revenue of about $1.61 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $134 million, according to financial results released March 4. For the full year, Ardent generated $6.32 billion in revenue, up 6% year over year, and $545 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 9.3% increase from 2024.
The results reflect a solid finish to a year that included industrywide challenges such as payer denials and rising professional fees, executives said during a related earnings call.
“I’m pleased to share that our fourth quarter results reflected a number of positive developments and encouraging signs of progress as a result of the actions we took since our last update,” CEO Marty Bonick said during the earnings call. “Key industry headwinds that we flagged as accelerating on the third quarter call, including professional fees and other rate pressures driven by payer denials, showed stability in 4Q.”
While much of the earnings call focused on cost discipline and margin improvement, Ardent also highlighted continued efforts to expand its outpatient footprint. That has been an area of growing strategic importance as more procedures migrate away from hospitals.
Bonick pointed to ambulatory investments as a key pillar of Ardent’s growth strategy.
“Yes, we feel like our ASC and ambulatory strategy has been continuing to develop,” Bonick said.
Over the past several years, Ardent has focused on expanding urgent care centers and other outpatient access points to help capture patient demand earlier in the care continuum.
“We started with the urgent cares and had good success with those opening up access points,” Bonick said during the call, noting that the added facilities have helped drive patient growth across the system.
The company plans to continue building out its outpatient network in 2026. Executives said Ardent expects to open five new urgent care centers, along with additional outpatient facilities, including one hospital-based ASC, another hospital outpatient department ASC and a freestanding emergency department in Texas.
Taken together, those projects are designed to help Ardent capture growing outpatient surgical volume while strengthening its presence in core markets.
“And so we feel like, again, we’re continuing to deploy capital in a disciplined way to continue to grow that outpatient market share and capture the shift of where a lot of these volumes are going,” Bonick said.
The strategy reflects broader trends across the hospital industry, where health systems are investing in ASCs and other outpatient sites to keep pace with migration of surgical procedures out of inpatient settings.
Demand across Ardent’s markets remains strong, executives said. The system reported 1.5% growth in admissions and 2% growth in adjusted admissions during the fourth quarter, helping support overall revenue growth.
Looking ahead, the company expects 2026 revenue between $6.4 billion and $6.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA between $485 million and $535 million. The outlook reflects continued operational improvements tied to Ardent’s internal “IMPACT” program, which is focused on margin improvement and efficiency initiatives.
At the same time, the company is preparing for potential headwinds related to payer dynamics and changes in health insurance exchange enrollment.
Even with those uncertainties, executives said Ardent’s mix of operational discipline, technology investments and outpatient expansion should position the company for long-term growth.
