Two large nonprofit health systems — Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health and St. Louis-based Ascension — have struck multibillion-dollar deals to grow their ASC footprint, but the CEO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare sees them as allies rather than rivals.
“I personally extended my congratulations to both new owners,” Tenet Chairman and CEO Saumya Sutaria, MD, said on the for-profit system’s Oct. 29 earnings call. Tenet’s United Surgical Partners International is the largest ASC operator in the U.S., with interests in 538 ASCs and 26 surgical hospitals as of June 30.
On Oct. 26, Bon Secours Mercy Health agreed to acquire Brentwood, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners through its affiliate HealthSpan Partners in a take-private deal valued at about $5.7 billion including debt. In June, Ascension closed its $3.9 billion acquisition of Amsurg, an ASC development and management company, expanding the health system’s ambulatory platform to more than 300 ASCs across the U.S>
Ascension’s deal made it the third-largest ASC operator in the U.S. Bon Secours’ deal, pending regulatory approval, would put it among the five largest ASC platforms.
“This is an important part of the market, and we have a lot of work to do together from an advocacy perspective in order to support and build the growing interest in ambulatory surgery, maintain high quality and safety, and also ensure that regulators understand the benefits that this portion of the surgical sector is providing to the cost of healthcare going forward,” Dr. Sutaria said.
Dr. Sutaria also expressed confidence in USPI’s strategy. In the third quarter, the division invested more than $100 million in acquisitions. He said the vast majority of those were not competitive processes and came to USPI exclusively. He added that Tenet’s acquisitions every year show that its pipeline turns into real deals.
USPI has opened four de novo centers this year. Dr. Sutaria described a “more rapid pace of de novo development” with “new tools in the toolkit,” aimed at higher-acuity specialties where USPI has built relationships with physician groups and MSOs.
“Our ability to move into new markets and new states with our contracting platform and move surgical care into lower cost settings without having to own more acute care hospitals is another important differentiator in what we are able to do with respect to expanding USPI’s scope and activity,” he said.
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