Here are 13 companies that own and/or operate physician-owned hospitals in the United States.
National Surgical Hospitals. Founded in 1998 and based in Chicago, National Surgical Hospitals partners with local physicians to develop freestanding surgical hospitals. NSH is one of the most highly capitalized specialty hospital companies, and currently has an ownership stake 23 specialty hospitals across the United States, five of which were recently named the best hospitals in their respective states by Consumer Reports.Under the guidance of John Rex-Waller, NSH's chairman, president and CEO, NSH has continued to grow, opening or acquiring interests in four facilities in 2008. Mr. Rex-Waller previously served as CFO of Hawk Medical Supply and as CFO and a co-founder of National Surgery Centers, which was once the largest independent owner and operator of ASCs in the country.
Foundation Surgery Affiliates. Founded in 1996 by Thomas Michaud, Foundation Surgery Affiliates owns and operates 18 surgical hospitals and surgery centers in Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. The Oklahoma City, Okla.-based company works with physicians from each project's inception and is involved in every phase, including group formation, construction, development and facility operation.
Founder Mr. Michaud currently serves as FSA's CEO and chairman of the board. Before founding FSA, he held the positions of COO and CFO of a regional surgery center management company. Mr. Michaud also previously served as a staff accountant for Ernst & Young.
United Surgical Partners International. Addison, Texas-based United Surgical Partners International develops surgical facilities in both the United States and the United Kingdom, including short-stay surgical hospitals, partnering with prominent physicians and health systems. USPI has partnered with more than 2,800 surgeons to date in the ownership of surgical facilities. USPI was founded in Feb. 1998 by Donald Steen and major stockholder Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe.
The company went public in 2001 and was taken private again in April 2007. Mr. Steen served as CEO until 2004 but continues to serve as chairman of the board of directors and the executive committee. William Wilcox currently leads USPI as the company's president and CEO. Before joining USPI, he served as CEO of United Dental Care, president of the surgery group of HCA and president and CEO of the ambulatory surgery division of HCA.
Prexus Health. Prexus Health specializes in developing and managing surgical hospitals as well as other healthcare facilities. Cincinnati-based Prexus counts five medical centers among its portfolio. Prexus is owned and controlled by physicians with more than 40 years' combined public and private company experience, and Prexus facilities are focused on specialized outpatient and inpatient services across multiple specialties.
Prexus was co-founded in 2006 by Ajay Mangal, MD, MBA, who currently serves as the company's president and CEO. Dr. Mangal previously served on staff as at Butler County Medical Center in Hamilton, Ohio; Fort Hamilton Hospital, also in Hamilton; Mercy Hospital in Fairfield, Ohio, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.
Medical Facilities Corp. Medical Facilities Corp. owns a majority interest in four specialty surgical hospitals in South Dakota and Oklahoma, in addition to two surgery centers. The specialty hospitals perform scheduled surgical, imaging and diagnostic procedures and, combined, have a total of 30 ORs and 51 recovery beds. MFC, which is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, posted revenue of approximately $199 million for 2008.
MFC is led by CEO Donald Schellpfeffer, MD, who also serves as medical director of Sioux Falls (S.D.) Surgical Hospital, which he co-founded in 1985, and president of Anesthesia Associates, the largest anesthesia services provider in South Dakota. Dr. Schellpfeffer has more than 18 years of experience in ambulatory surgical environments, and 22 years in general, cardiovascular and trauma practices.
Regent Surgical Health. Regent Surgical Health is an experienced, physician-owned hospital developer and manager that specializes in acquiring and turning around underperforming physician-owned hospitals. In 2008, Westchester, Ill.-based Regent launched a program with board-certified neurological surgeon James Lynch, MD, to help physicians develop neurosurgery centers and specialty spine hospitals. Regent's principals invest their capital and expertise in each facility, sharing risks side-by-side with its surgeons and hospital partners.
Regent was founded in 2001 and is led today by co-founder and CEO Tom Mallon. Before starting Regent in 2001, Mr. Mallon served as a founding member and remains a general partner with Gryffindor Capital Partners, a Chicago-based venture-capital fund. In 1994, he co-founded Same Day Surgery, which acquired five distressed and underutilized ASCs and a physician management company.
RMC Medstone Capital. RMC MedStone Capital was founded in 2007 when parent company RM Crowe, a Dallas-based real estate developer and property manager led by R. Maurice Crowe Jr., who is CEO of both companies, bought out TruMedical Partners and renamed the company RMC MedStone Capital. RMC MedStone, which is headed up by Mike Lipomi, president, currently operates five facilities, including Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto, Calif.
Mr. Lipomi has more than 30 years of experience in hospital and ambulatory surgery facility management. He started his career with American Medical International at El Cajon Valley Hospital in San Diego. Most recently, Mr. Lipomi was CEO of Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto, Calif., which he grew from a small surgery center into a leading specialty hospital. He also served on the board of directors of Physician Hospitals of America for seven years, including two years as president, and is the former chair of PHA's legislative committee.
Nueterra Healthcare. Founded in 1997, Nueterra is an industry leader in healthcare management and helped pioneer the physician-ownership business model in surgical facilities. Nueterra began its book of business with ambulatory surgical facilities but now operates several surgical and community hospitals across the United States.
Nueterra is currently led by John Schario, MBA. Before joining Nueterra in 2001, Mr. Schario worked for 20 years as an executive with a major Midwestern integrated health system. His managerial background includes the development and operation of surgery centers, imaging facilities and occupational medicine clinics. Mr. Schario has been instrumental in the development of Nueterra's corporate support services and their successful deployment across diverse business ventures with physician partners.
Surgical Development Partners. Franklin, Tenn.-based Surgical Development Partners works with physicians and hospitals in developing medical facilities, including joint-venture acute-care hospitals. Surgical Development Partners has been involved with six medical centers including East El Paso (Texas) Physicians Medical Center and Lakeway Regional Medical Center in Austin, Texas.
Surgical Development Partners is led by President and CEO G. Edward Alexander. Prior to founding Surgical Development Partners, Mr. Alexander served as CEO of Surgical Alliance Corp., a company focused on musculoskeletal hospital development and management. Before that, he helped found and served as senior vice president and CFO for OrthoLink Physicians Corp.. Mr. Alexander has also served as CFO for Team Health, the hospital-based physician-contracting subsidiary of MedPartners and as vice president, finance and treasurer of Medaphis Corp., one of the largest providers of business management services to hospitals and physicians.
Symbion. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Symbion is a leading operator of short-stay surgical facilities, including surgical hospitals and ASCs. The company was founded in 1999, and today its network includes more than 70 short-stay surgical facilities in 25 states.
Symbion has been led by CEO Richard Francis, Jr. since 2002. Previously, Mr. Francis served as president and CEO of UniPhy, an operator of multi-specialty clinics, independent practice associations and related outpatient services. Earlier in his career, he was the senior vice president of development for HealthTrust, where he also served as a regional vice president with responsibility for the operations of 11 hospitals in five states.
Texas Health Partners. Texas Health Partners is a leading healthcare development and management company, which was founded 2002 by a joint venture between Paragon Health and Texas Health Resources, one of the largest health systems in North Texas. When Texas Health Resources purchased Paragon's interest in 2007, THPR evolved into a dedicated resource for the analysis, development and operation of specialty healthcare services and hospital-physician joint ventures. THPR's services often include concept development, evaluation, joint-venture relationships and continued management and oversight of functional areas.
THPR is led by president Krystal Mims. Prior to becoming president of THPR, she served as CFO for Physician's Medical Center, a specialty hospital in Plano, Texas; Southlake Specialty Hospital in Southlake, Texas; and Presbyterian Hospital of Rockwall in Rockwall, Texas. She also served as CFO for Texas Back Institute for three years, CFO of Practice Performance and administrator of Steadman Hawkins Denver Clinic.
Surgical Management Professionals. Surgical Management Professionals develops, manages and forms equity partnerships with physicians and organizations to create physician-owned surgical facilities, including Midwest Surgical Hospital in Omaha, Neb. The physician-owned company, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., offers services in strategic planning, feasibility evaluation, consulting, equity investment, ongoing contract management and business and clerical services.
SMP is currently being led by interim executive director R. Blake Curd, MD. Prior to accepting the interim executive director position at SMP, Dr. Curd served as chairman of the board from 2005 and vice chair from 2003-2005. Dr. Curd is board member and treasurer of Physician Hospitals of America and has been a board member of PHA since 2005. Dr. Curd also currently serves as a representative for the South Dakota State Legislature. He is a practicing hand and microvascular surgeon at the Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Cirrus Health. Founded in 2005 from a legacy company founded in 1999, Cirrus Health owns and operates six surgical and community hospitals in the southwest United States, including North Texas Hospital in Denton, Texas, and Thousand Oaks (Calif.) Surgical Hospital. In addition to hospitals, Cirrus also operates ASCs, partnering with physicians in local markets to provide quality patient care.
Cirrus is led by chairman and acting CEO Donald Wilson. Prior to founding one of Cirrus' predecessors in 1996, Mr. Wilson developed an extensive commercial real estate portfolio in various locations across Texas and surrounding states. Over the last 10 years, Mr. Wilson's focus has been exclusively devoted to the development of successful medical operations platforms and medically-oriented real estate projects. In addition to his work in medical operations, Mr. Wilson has participated in more than 40 medical real estate development projects.