Surgery Partners (Nasdaq: SGRY) ended 2025 confronting problems that its leaders insist are temporary. Even so, the end-of-2025 challenges serve as a reminder to ambulatory surgery center (ASC) operators how quickly payer dynamics and physician transitions can disrupt even a scaled platform. “The year closed out against a challenging backdrop, with several headwinds impacting our business in ways we didn't anticipate,” Surgery Partners CEO Eric Evans said during a Tuesday morning earnings … [Read more...]
HST Pathways Reportedly in Second Round of Sale Process, Targeting $1B Valuation
HST Pathways – a company that provides cloud-based electronic health record (EHR), practice management and revenue cycle management software designed specifically for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) – is reportedly on the market. On Feb. 23, ION Analytics reported that HST Pathways is in the second round of a sales process, with William Blair serving as adviser during the transaction talks. ION Analytics cited “three sources familiar with the situation” in its reporting. Founded by Tom … [Read more...]
Community Health Systems Building a More Concentrated Hospital, Outpatient Portfolio
Community Health Systems is reshaping itself around a smaller, more concentrated hospital portfolio. It’s doing so while betting that outpatient growth and commercial-mix gains will carry it forward. The Franklin, Tennessee-based hospital operator – which also owns and operates ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) – has spent much of the past several years selling off standalone facilities and managing its debt. Now, executives say that Community Health Systems’ pruning phase is largely … [Read more...]
For CommonSpirit, Ambulatory Surgery Emerging as Key Growth Lever
CommonSpirit Health is leaning harder into ambulatory surgery centers (ASC) and outpatient expansion as it works to stabilize margins and reposition its portfolio beyond traditional hospital care. This idea – leaning into outpatient – is one that CommonSpirit leaders have repeatedly spoken up about. That group includes President and CEO Wright Lassiter, who touched on the topic recently at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. “We are looking very critically at if CommonSpirit is the best to … [Read more...]
Ascension’s Turnaround Gains Momentum as It Expands Ambulatory Footprint, Races Toward the AMSURG Finish Line
Ascension is pairing a financial rebound with an accelerated push into outpatient care, positioning the nation’s largest Catholic health system for deeper expansion in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and ancillary services. That’s one of the biggest takeaways from Ascension’s most recent round of financial-results reporting from earlier in February. “Under its evolving leadership, Ascension remains committed to improving the health of individuals and communities served, meeting consumers … [Read more...]
UM Health-Sparrow to Invest More Than $140M in New ASC, Behavioral Health Hospital
University of Michigan Health-Sparrow will invest more than $140 million to build a new behavioral health hospital and an ambulatory surgery center (ASC). The builds will be in Lansing, Michigan, with the health system looking to expand access to care and ease capacity constraints in the area. The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved the two projects Thursday. Groundbreaking is expected this summer, with both facilities slated to open in 2028. The $83 million behavioral … [Read more...]
Atlas Lands Prisma Partnership as ASC JV Landscape Heats Up
The ambulatory surgery center (ASC) joint venture landscape is primed for a big year. Atlas Healthcare Partners is ready to capitalize on that momentum. The Phoenix-based ASC development and management company announced Thursday that it has inked a new partnership with Prisma Health to expand outpatient surgical capacity across the Southeast, adding another large not-for-profit system to its roster of JV partners. “We continue to make great progress with our current JV partners in terms of … [Read more...]
What A PPM Investment Slowdown Means for ASC-Linked Specialties
Private equity investment in health care services rebounded in 2025. But physician practice management (PPM) deals – a key driver of ambulatory surgery center (ASC) M&A – lost momentum as regulatory scrutiny intensified. That’s according to dealmaking research and intelligence firm PitchBook, which wrote about the latest health care M&A trends in its Q4 2025 Healthcare Services Report. Overall, health care services deal activity rose 9.6% year over year to an estimated 747 … [Read more...]
Pain, Endoscopy Surge as Some ASC Specialties Lose Ground
Not all growth in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) industry is created equal. While the overall ASC market continues to expand, new data show that a handful of specialties are driving most of the momentum. Others, in contrast, are somewhat contracting. Since 2017, the number of centers offering pain management surgery has climbed 51.7%, while endoscopy has grown 46.7%, according to ASC Data’s Q4 2025 Insights Report, released Feb. 5. Similarly, orthopedic surgery centers have increased … [Read more...]
Tenet Continues to Elevate USPI Amid Inpatient-to-Outpatient Migration
The migration of surgical volume into outpatient settings doesn’t feel like a slow drip anymore. For many hospital and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) operators, it is becoming a steady stream – with potential of turning into a raging river. At Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC), that shift is translating into double-digit growth in joint replacements, expanding spine and urology capabilities, and a torrent of ASC acquisitions and de novos. “USPI continues to deliver attractive results,” … [Read more...]