Private equity owns 900 patient care centers in Philadelphia, report finds
A new report from watchdog group Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) shows hedge funds and investment firms own around 900 healthcare provider locations in the Philadelphia metro area.
The patient care organizations owned by private equity investors range from small practices to large hospital systems and correctional institutions. The report's analysis is based strictly on healthcare organizations within a 50-mile radius of the city.
The largest single share of the lot are physical therapy centers, which account for 271 locations owned by six different private equity firms. Behavioral health follows, with 98 clinics owned by 12 different companies. Dental care is behind that, with 86 practices owned by 14 investment groups.
PESP said there has been an especially large explosion of physical therapy clinics and groups in metro areas, and private equity has taken an interest in the expansion of those services.
“Private equity after nearly two decades has continued to invest in physical therapy clinics. The area remains attractive for private equity investors because it is expected to see continued growth and—despite several existing national platforms of scale—physical therapy is a fragmented industry which can be further consolidated,” PESP wrote in the report.
Waud Capital Partners owns 145 of the 271 PE locations in the greater Philadelphia area, with Advent International coming in second with 61.
PESP said its analysis is based on publicly available location data, as well as information made public by private equity companies. It added that their study was complicated and may not fully tell the story of ownership in and around Philadelphia, because firms “typically are not required to disclose their holdings to the public, making it difficult to assess private equity’s presence in any select geographic area.”
“For this reason, private equity is likely to have a larger presence in Philadelphia healthcare than is measured here,” PESP said.
Other primary targets of private equity firms are home healthcare business, including at-home hospice services. The 85 locations found to be owned by financial investors are shared by 15 companies, with Waud and Advent owning the largest number at 10 each.
“This report aims to provide a real-world measurement for healthcare consumers and patients seeking to understand private equity’s presence in the local healthcare market,” Michael Fenne, senior healthcare researcher at PESP, said in a statement. “Our data show that most people in the region don’t have to drive too far to find the nearest private equity-owned healthcare provider. Private equity healthcare investments extend to most corners of the Philadelphia region and include a broad range of clinic and provider types.”
PESP said it fears private equity buyouts and consolidation could lead to financial instability for healthcare in the region, citing its earlier study that found nine private equity-owned healthcare companies represented 23% of all large U.S. healthcare bankruptcies in 2024 alone.
The full report on Philadelphia can be found here.
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