Ownership of hospitals by private equity firms can create significant profits for investors. However, this often poses risks to patients, communities, and healthcare providers.
Heather Prendergast, writing for The Hill, offers insights based on her extensive experience in emergency departments across Chicago. The Hill is known for its nonpartisan reporting on government operations and the intersection of politics and business.
For over twenty years, Prendergast has observed the consequences when hospitals close in neighborhoods that once relied on them. With fewer hospitals, ambulances must travel longer distances, leading to overcrowded waiting rooms. Patients’ conditions can worsen while waiting for care no longer available locally.
She noted that often closures were not due to a lack of community support, but due to the greater value derived from the hospital’s assets when liquidated rather than kept operational.
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