Hospital assets before and after private equity acquisition

Hospital assets before and after private equity acquisition
JAMA; by Elizabeth Schrier, Hope E M Schwartz, David U Himmelstein, Adam Gaffney, Danny McCormick, Samuel L Dickman, Steffie Woolhandler; 7/24
Private equity firms spent $505 billion on health care acquisitions between 2018 and 2023. Financial infusions may augment resources for care. However, firms have sometimes sold acquired hospitals’ land and buildings, repaying investors with proceeds and burdening hospitals with rent payments for facilities they once owned. We assessed changes in hospitals’ capital assets after private equity acquisition. After private equity acquisition, hospital assets decreased by 24% relative to that of controls during 2 years. Private equity acquisitions appear to have depleted, rather than augmented, hospital assets. Although funds from asset drawdowns might be redeployed to enhance care or efficiency, previous studies suggest such effects may not occur.