Image by Stefan Schweihofer from PixabayArdent Health, Inc. (NYSE: ARDT) plans to open two new ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) this year as part of its ongoing strategy to grow its outpatient care portfolio.
The Brentwood, Tennessee-based company is also bullish about urgent care: It opened four urgent care clinics during the first quarter across its Idaho, New Mexico and Texas markets and plans to open one more such clinic later this year.
In addition, Ardent Health aims to open one freestanding emergency department in 2026, executives said during the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call on May 6.
Ardent Health, which focuses on “growing, mid-sized urban communities,” operates approximately 280 care sites, including 30 acute-care hospitals, five ASCs/endoscopy centers, as well as urgent care centers, primary care clinics and imaging centers.
Regarding the company’s M&A strategy, CEO Marty Bonick said he remains optimistic about opportunities for either joint ventures or outright acquisitions.
“But we are being very conservative and prudent in terms of where we’re going into, given the macro uncertainties in healthcare,” Bonick added. “We want to make sure that as we look for new target opportunities, they either complement our existing markets or our new markets [and] that we feel that we can go in and make a difference in terms of having the right growth characteristics.”
Growing surgery volumes
For the first quarter, Ardent Health reported that total surgery volume grew 1.2% compared to the prior-year period, going from 30,962 to 31,342. Outpatient surgeries were the strongest driver of that growth, rising 1.7% year over year to 22,086, while inpatient surgeries grew 0.1% to 9,256.
The performance of Ardent’s ASCs helped offset some of the patient-volume pressures from winter storms – a headwind that other major hospital systems have also mentioned in their recent earnings calls.
“When you think about some of the weather impacts across the industry, … it impacted admissions, but those strong outpatient services and access points continue to deliver for us, along with strong volumes on the ASC side,” Bonick said during the earnings call.
Bonick said Ardent Health had a strong start to the year overall, building on its improving financial performance in the fourth quarter of 2025 after navigating a variety of headwinds earlier in the year. Those included rising professional fees and payer denials.
The company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 28 cents exceeded the Wall Street consensus estimate of 18 cents, causing stock prices to rise. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 26.3% year over year to $124 million.
Total revenue grew 7% year over year to $1.6202 billion, but that figure came in slightly below the $1.614 consensus estimate.
For the full year 2026, Ardent Health reaffirmed its guidance of revenues totaling $6.4 billion to $6.7 billion and adjusted EBITDA totaling $485 million to $535 million.
