Image by Md Sharif Hossain Tokder from PixabayAtlas Healthcare Partners, which just announced that it’s teaming up with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services to develop and operate a network of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), is far from finished with its recent joint-venture spree.
In fact, the joint venture with Fairview is the sixth such partnership unveiled by Atlas, and more announcements are coming soon.
“We also recently finalized an ASC relationship with a large system that will be announced in the near future,” Atlas President and CEO Aric Burke told Ambulatory Surgery Center News. “Additionally, we are in advanced JV formation discussions with five more large health systems that could be finalized and announced this year.”
Atlas, founded in 2019, partners with nonprofit health systems including Banner Health, MultiCare, Corewell Health, ChristianaCare, PrismaHealth and now Fairview to design, develop and operate coordinated ASCs. And its business has been booming.
“We’re seeing a lot of demand from health systems across the U.S. to assist with the development of an ASC strategy for their markets and form a JV to develop and operate their ASCs,” Burke said.
Mapping an ASC success plan
Part of the secret of Atlas’ success is its ASC-planning formula, according to Burke.
He said the company has developed an ASC network planning approach that helps health systems determine where to locate facilities, ASC capacity requirements, service line coverage, physician alignment, forecasted capital requirements and financial performance.
“Once the ASC network plan is developed and approved by the health system, it creates a roadmap for the JV to move forward quickly and with clarity,” Burke said.
Fairview selected Atlas as a partner in mid-2025 after a request-for-proposals process, according to Burke. The health system opted to find a partner to develop its ASC strategy – rather than go it alone – so that it could tap into Atlas’ experience with that care modality.
“By forging partnerships with organizations that contribute their own specialized expertise and alignment with our mission, we’re able to foster a long-term strategy that supports a cohesive network of care and enhances patient care and access across the region,” a Fairview spokesperson told ASC News in an email.
Fairview has interests in six ambulatory surgery centers in Minnesota outside of the Atlas joint venture, including four community-based ASCs where Fairview holds a partial ownership interest and two ASCs that Fairview owns and operates directly, Burke said.
Additionally, Atlas manages operations at the Ridges Surgery Center in Burnsville, Minnesota, which is one of the community-based ASCs in which Fairview holds a partial ownership interest.
Fairview’s joint venture with Atlas will focus on developing an ASC network plan to guide future growth and development in that space. Geographically speaking, the joint venture will cover the same area where Fairview currently serves patients: throughout Minnesota and in neighboring Upper Midwest states, Burke said. The initial focus will be on the Twin Cities, also known as the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area.
For Fairview, expanding into the ASC space is a key component of its mission to serve patients “across the full continuum of care and at every stage of life.”
“Ambulatory surgery centers are an increasingly important part of how Fairview delivers accessible, high quality care,” the health system said. “This partnership supports long-term advancement in ambulatory surgical care across the Upper Midwest and helps ensure patients can receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”
